HOW IS TENSION BUILT IN ‘THE LATENTER?’

What is the film about? How do we know?■ From what we see in the video there are two

characters who have just performed a bank robbery and are hiding in a container where they are deciding how to split the money. These two characters don’t get on very well because of the way the female character shoots him at the end due to her jealousy and how she doesn’t want to split the money.

How does the opening sequence build tension?■in the first sequence tension is built up by the

female character not replying to the male character when he is asking her if its ok to split the money evenly. Also the way that they are in a container builds tension because its quite a scary place to be. The silence of the video also helps to create tension.

Who are the characters? What are we meant to feel about them?■ In this opening sequence there are two characters,

one male and the other female. We don’t see the face of the female character until right at the end after she has killed him and is closing the doors. From watching this I feel sorry for the man because he was shot but before she shoots him, I feel sympathy for her because of the way he got so angry at her so quickly, just because she wasn’t answering him.

How do we feel this early on?

■ As the audience, we could feel excited to watch the rest of the film and to see how the story continues after being set up at the start.

■ In terms of looking at characters, the audience could feel sympathetic towards the male who was shot by the female as he was clearly shouting out of panic and you could argue inexperience. Others might think that he deserved to be shot because of his language and abusive behaviour towards the female character.

The female could be looked at in more than one perspective. Some people might back her up for shooting him because of his attitude towards her. It was a surprise to the audience that she was a female which could persuade the audience to support her actions as she is breaking stereotypes and showing ‘girl-power’. Alternatively, a clear response from the audience could be shock and dislike towards the female for double- crossing the male when he was in a particularly vulnerable state.

■ So overall, the audience will feel mixed and conflicting emotions over the characters whilst they consider what actions were should be considered right or wrong. This engages the audience as they have options to consider and will make them want to watch more to see if their first impressions of the characters were right or proven wrong.

What do you think, given the tone and language, the rest of the plot line would be?■ The money they were handling was obviously stolen, suggesting this

could be a crime or an action film. However, the idea that the female double crossed the male suggests that this could be a girl-power film, focusing on her life and what happens from there. Her closing the doors and taking the money for herself shows the strength of her character and could suggest that she is on some sort of mission.