Suspense is created in various ways in the film United 93. Firstly the film opens with a dark, black screen and a person can be heard reading the Quran. This automatically creates suspense for the audience as they want to know especially if they don't understand the foreign language, what the person is actually saying any why, and not only this but who is saying it as nobody is shown while the audience hears this voice. Again, while the audience hear this voice, there is no other audio such as music etc, it is silent giving the audience no choice but to wonder about this person and what they are saying. When the character is shown, afterwards the audience get a glimpse but not however a face shot, of another person who says 'its time' to the person who was saying prayer. This dialogue enhances the audience’s anxiety, it makes them contemplate what is it time for?
As the audience are exposed to a different setting, The Newark International Airport, the suspicion lingers, the orchestral music and fast paced camera movements enforce this. In the airport the camera moves swiftly to reveal the typical everyday situation in which occurs in the airport. The audience see people in their everyday lives, but as this is happening there is dramatic heavy based music. The contrasting music and actual events happening create suspense as it causes the audience to be assuming something bad is going to happen. The hijackers from the beginning of the film are shown amongst the ordinary passengers of the flight at the airport but the camera tends to linger on them making the audience think they are up to something. Following this, when the passengers have board the flight, the flight is delayed and the other three hijacked flights take off to other targets, World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. This generates further nervousness of the audience because it foreshadows that something bad is going to happen on flight 93.
At this point the audience make sense of what is going to happen, they are at the edge of their seats. As the tension builds up, and the audience are exposed to the traffic controllers conversations they have a feeling of hope which overshadows the escalade of tension and concern and calms the audience down for a period of time. This feeling of calmness is only for a short period of time though as the events turn extreme when the second hijacked plane, Flight 175 crashes into the south tower of the world trade centre.
By the time the hijackers take over flight 93, the third of the hijacked planes has already hit the pentagon building. This just overall makes the audience none other than certain about what the hijackers of flight 93 are capable of.
During this time the situation gets even further, tension rises as the passengers become frantic and are left thinking what exactly the hijackers have planned for them at the same time suspense is created for the audience as they already have an idea of forthcoming events. The passengers’ emotions are highlighted as the editing becomes faster and reflects the hastiness of those on board the flight. As the passengers take the situation into their own hands as they realise they have to save their lives, pressure increases as the victims are in a predicament in which the audience could not relate to leaving the audience pondering on what the victims will do. The bravery of the victims alone is very overwhelming for the audience and again gives them hope for the victims on board but suspense still lingers as one of the hijackers, the one flying the plane, starts to pray while the others are preventing the victims on board, access to control the plane. During this time the audience’s feelings of suspense reach their breaking point as they directly see where the plane is going and automatically figure where the plane is going to end up, these thoughts are fulfilled as the audience are then brought back to the same black screen as in the beginning and the same feelings of uncertainty and anxiety return, but the audience soon realise what the out come was already.
This picture represents depression
