Expressive movement unit 1

The interplay of sound design—the sparing use of quiet noises—prolonged shots and camera movements that follow the characters stages a slowly building tension within a long silence. The longer it takes to complete the actions, the more the tension builds.

The dominant impression of silence is created on the one hand by slowly fading out the radio and the sounds of its interference and by ending Matowski and Dane’s dialogue—after the opening bracket of the zoom out ends and Matowski goes off to the left.

By extending the action by means of delays—in particular protracted preparations, for example taking off the shoes—tension is created. Tension is built on the one hand by accentuating the all-powerful silence by quiet noises such as the clatter of a rifle or light-footed steps. It is also built by slowing the diagonal camera pan, parallel to the movement of Matowski climbing the palm, and moving the camera into a vertical position as the palm tree becomes steeper and Matowski’s ascent also slows.

The cut to a close-up of Eeps—whose head slowly looks up, prefiguring the ascent—extend the length of time in which tension is built.