North by North West

One of the most iconic thriller scenes is the crop duster scene in 'North by North West.' In order to understand the thriller genre further I had to analyse the editing used in that specific scene.

When watching the scene started off slow with a medium shot of Cary Grant deserted in a remote field waiting for a bus. Seeing as very little was going on in that moment it gave the effect of a calm and steady scene. 

In the next scene we see a car appear in the very back of a wide shot and a man comes out of the car then stands at the other side of the road. As they stand parallel to each other we are a shown another wide shot that portrays both men and everything in that setting including the long dusty road. This tells the audience that they are stranded and are vulnerable to anything, this vulnerability links in with the next scene.

 They eventually engage in a conversation with another medium shot to accompany this. So far all the sound is diegetic until this man leaves the scene.

Suddenly, we hear non-diegetic sound which does not fit in with the calm atmosphere then an airplane comes above Grant creating an over the shoulder shot. As the plane comes down towards the man, the speed of switching scenes becomes more frequent: short cuts. While Grant is running away there is a tracking shot so the tension intensifies and takes the audience on a little journey.


It makes the audience almost feel like they're in the situation too, the speed of switching scenes is very rapid and it's parallel to the timing of a heartbeat maybe Cary Grant's.