10 Genius Suspense Tricks That Made Movies Great
8. The Camera's Focal Length Was Constantly Changed To Heighten Claustrophobia - 12 Angry Men
Though 12 Angry Men isn't a traditional suspense picture by any means, it is nevertheless an enormously tense courtroom drama, as a jury of twelve men debate whether to deal a death sentence to an 18-year-old man accused of murdering his father.
While the film is an incredibly straight-forward chamber piece from a technical perspective, largely consisting of twelve actors talking in a single room, master filmmaker Sidney Lumet nevertheless helped amplify the suspense through some of his smart directorial decisions alongside cinematographer Boris Kaufman.
Above all else, they opted to change the focal length of the camera lens as the movie progressed. To begin with, wide-angle lenses were used which implied a great degree of space within the room and between the jurors.
But as the film wears on and audiences wonder whether or not the men will spare the defendant's life, Lumet switches largely to close-ups while using telephoto lenses to create a shorter depth of field, suggesting a sense of claustrophobia as the moment of truth draws nearer.
It's brilliantly done, yet subtle enough that most audiences likely never even noticed they were being worked by one of the best to ever do it.