Ratcheting Tension in a Scene: SILO

Silo draws much of its story suspense from the unknown: what’s outside? when will someone snap? who is against you?

In Episode 1.09 “The Getaway” Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) breaks into Camile’s (Alexandria Riley) house. The following scenes ratchet tension in three main ways: staging, when and how the scene breaks away, and edit (+ music).

All three segments use all three techniques, each weighting one more heavily.

Staging

The first segment sets the stage, arranging Juliette and Camile where they can each see the other, and the audience can see each individually and both at once.

The staging plays with when we can / can’t see their positioning in relationship to each other, mostly in when it chooses to use closeups / wide shots; in a wide of Juliette we can see them both, while closeups mostly frame the other out.

We only see both in the same frame when Juliette is in focus in the foreground. This underscores a crucial part of the staging: because of the computer monitor position, as Juliette gets engrossed in her search, she often neglects to look at Camile.

When the camera is behind Juliette (like the above), we get Camile-POV-esque shots, which are identifiable because we know roughly where they are in the room and in relation to each other; these shots will be recontextualised near the end of their encounter.

We also get Juliette-POV shots, but never of Camile, only of what is consuming her attention:

Cutting Away

The longer sequence of Juliette playing detective and Camile getting free of her handcuffs is actually broken into three sequences; it elides the time where Juliette is scrolling through files and Camile is trying to pick the lock quietly and unobtrusively, but it also means it can gain even more tension and draw out our suspense by jumping into other scenes, as here.

This transition is especially intense, at 0:13 there’s a banging sound, and for a moment we wonder if Camile has dropped something, or Juliette (offscreen) has moved the computer monitor . . . but then the cut to another scene where the noise continues shows this was a J-cut, where the sound of a large door opening was brought in a second early to kick-start the transition into the next scene.

Editing and Music

We’ve come back a third time, knowing where the two women are staged, to see Juliette fully engrossed as Camile completes her handcuff-escape.

The scene continues to use similar angles, but once Camile begins moving, it slightly reframes what was previously from her POV; we see Juliette similarly framed, but now other things are in the foreground and in focus.

The edit uses some medium shots but leans on closeups, tension mounting because of what we can’t quite see, continuing concentration on ‘what Juliette and Camile’s hands are doing’ even in their struggle for the gun, until finally it goes to the widest shot of the room we’ve had yet.

And then . . .

it cuts away, leaving us to wonder again.

Takeaways

Story can drive suspense, but so can many specific technical choices.

As for what happens next?

We recommend Silo not merely for its craft and setpieces, but story and character and acting, and we wouldn’t spoil that big story element here.