In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 350 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
In the 1971 thriller “Duel,” a made-for-TV movie that became Steven Spielberg’s feature-length debut, the director had an early go at building an intricately suspenseful sequence. He has been showing audiences how suspense is done in the 55 years since.
“Duel” involved a menacing trucker who was none too happy with the driver of a red car. In one tense moment, the truck begins to push the car into a moving freight train.
Spielberg’s latest film, “Disclosure Day” (in theaters), is a layered sci-fi thriller that has very little in common with the sparse “Duel.” But in one sequence, the two films are in sync, and the new scene is a continuation, of sorts, of the old.
In “Disclosure Day,” Margaret (Emily Blunt) and Daniel (Josh O’Connor) are on the run with an archive that could prove the existence of other intelligent life on the planet. As they wait at train tracks, a car rams them from behind and begins to push them into the train.
Reflecting on “Duel” in this Anatomy of a Scene video, Spielberg noted, “I had always said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if the truck had actually pushed the car into the train?’ So I thought, I’m going to do that in ‘Disclosure Day.’ I’m going to take that scene to its full realization.”
Watch the full video to hear Spielberg reveal more of his techniques in a scene like this, and explain how to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Read the “Disclosure Day” review.
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The post Steven Spielberg on How to Build Suspense in ‘Disclosure Day’ appeared first on New York Times.
