Offscreen space functions as easily within the frame as beyond it, as in this case where the alien egg case obscures the throbbing embryonic alien. The startle in this scene combines a loud screech with two distinct point-of-view shots of alien tentacles exploding into the camera. This doubling of the action (a common editor's trick) occurs too quickly for the mind to perceive the repetition, and seems to amplify the spectator's overall experience of the action.

Return to page 3 of "Startle."