In the episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” from the series “The Twilight Zone,” the director uses different film techniques, such as camera angle and movement, lighting, and sound to reveal the character’s fears and struggles throughout the plot. The main character is Bob Wilson, a man who is traveling home with his wife after being discharged from the sanitarium after his nervous breakdown. While he is on the plane, he sees a creature that he believes is a gremlin and tries to convince his wife and the airplane staff but no one else can see the gremlin.
As the Wilson’s board the plane, the camera takes an establishing shot of the interior and passengers, the couple being in the foreground. Once the couple sit down, the camera often cuts from medium shots to close shots of both Bob and Julia Wilson. When filming the Wilson’s, the camera is never placed above them, always on or below their eye level, and usually from the viewpoint of Bob. There are two light sources focused on Bob and Julia as they talk, one shining on their faces from behind the camera and the overhead light that Bob turned on above their plane seats. Once it is revealed that Bob is anxious about being on the plane, the lights dim as the plane starts to take off and the camera cuts from the previous shot and often zooms in for a close shot of Bob. This sets the mood for suspense and builds tension in the audience as Bob’s feeling of restlessness increases.
The lighting has dimmed extensively from the previous scene, implying that it is now nighttime and sets the mood as well for the thunder and lightning. The only sources of light are from the overhead seat light and the lightning as it flashes from outside the window. Later, when he looks out the window, he spots the gremlin on the far end of the wing. Once Bob sees the gremlin, background music starts to play and the volume increases, giving off an eerie and mysterious feeling. From the viewpoint of Bob, the creature is hard to see from the rain and fog outside, only visible from when the lightning strikes. Once the gremlin becomes visible as it moves closer to the window, the eerie background music gets louder, also contributing to the factors of doubt and growing fear.
To emphasize Bob’s disbelief and worry, the camera cuts to film a close shot of his face from the outside of the window, revealing his feelings of dread and panic to be true. As the gremlin approaches the window in curiosity, the camera switches back to film inside the plane and gets a medium shot of Bob as he closes his eyes and the curtain in fear. When he opens it again, the camera zooms in for a dramatic close-up of the gremlin’s face peering through the window, and the music reaches a climax. The gremlin can be seen very clearly due to the lighting from the inside of the plane. Bob’s uneasiness only increases as the story progresses and in a last effort to get rid of the gremlin, he fires at it with a gun, the gunshots and loud background music combining to reach a final climax, and the camera does a final zoom in for an extreme close shot of Bob as he screams and loses consciousness.
While “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” included many dramatic close shots and clearly shows the antagonist, “Blink” from the series “Doctor Who” does the opposite and also uses other filming techniques to develop tension and discomfort within the audience. The main characters are Sally Sparrow, Larry Nightingale, and The Doctor. The episode starts with Sally finding an old abandoned house. As she goes on to investigate it, she discovers that the weeping angels are a threat to her and the people around her.
In a scene later in the episode, Sally finds out that her friend Kathy Nightingale disappears under mysterious circumstances, she goes to look for evidence of her missing friend, but sees a key in the hand of an angel statue instead. To foreshadow the significance of the role of the key, the camera zooms in for a close shot of it. Then, the camera cuts to an over-the-shoulder shot of the angel with the key, focusing on Sally and two other angels behind her, both with their hands covering their eyes. Unlike “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” the antagonists are not clearly revealed to the protagonists, but kept in mystery and suspicion to further the suspense. Even though it is clearly daytime in this scene, just the knowledge that the angels aren’t what they seem to be contributes greatly to the building tension. As Sally moves toward the angel with the key, the background music suddenly turns quiet and eerie, a discreet sign that makes the audience hold their breath in anticipation. As she slowly moves to get the key from its hand, her body covers the angels behind her. When Sally moves again and the angels are no longer blocked from the audience’s sight, their poses have changed. The background music has also escalated in pitch and in volume, especially loud and high when the angels are in the frame. By manipulating the camera angles, the director applies dramatic irony in order to intensify the “scare factor.”
Later, when Sally and Larry are in the old house and are rewatching the video with the Doctor, he finally reveals to them that the angels are a threat to them and the future. Once the angels are mentioned and are in the frame again, the soft quiet background music goes back to the high pitched, eerie tone. The house is dim with the exception of moonlight coming in from the garden adjacent to the room that Sally and Larry are in. When Sally realizes that neither of them are looking at the angel in the garden, the camera switches to the angel, who is now trying to kill them. The music suddenly goes from quiet and eerie to loud, shrieking violins. While Sally tries to find a way out of the house, Larry has to stare at the angel. The camera then zooms in for an extreme close shot of Larry’s eyes, emphasizing the difficulty of trying not to blink. Not only does this increase suspense within the scene, but it also makes the audience tense and afraid, almost as if this were happening to them. As Larry tries not to blink, the camera continually switches between him and the attacking angel, always taking an up shot when filming the angel and a down shot when filming Larry, getting both characters’ viewpoints.
Finally, when Sally and Larry make it to the basement, they see the blue time travel box and eventually, all four of the angels are in the room with them. The music quiets down to the same eerie noise as before. As they cautiously make their way toward the blue box, the fourth angel starts to make the light bulb flicker, their only source of light. Then, the music intensifies once again, and every time the light flickers, the angels move closer to them and the box. The flickering light acts as the audience’s eyes, like they are blinking every time the screen goes black. As Larry and Sally frantically try to open the box and look at the angels at the same time, the camera gets a full up shot of the angels, going from the point of view of the two protagonists. When Sally and Larry finally get the box back to the Doctor, the camera does a final zoom out for a full shot as they realize that the angels can’t hurt them anymore and they leave the house.
Although both films used camera angles and movement, lighting, and sound, each utilized one or more aspects in their own way to produce an exciting and dramatic thriller episode. While “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” involved a lot of close shots and the classic “thunder and lightning” to add to the suspense, Doctor Who’s episode, “Blink” manipulated camera angles for dramatic irony and fear.