What is Hitchcock's theory of suspense?
My approach to suspense is quite straightforward, though often misunderstood. The difference between surprise and suspense is immense, you see. Surprise is an unexpected event – a bomb suddenly going off, for instance. There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of the bang. Suspense is built by showing the audience the bomb, revealing its presence and the impending danger, and allowing them to share that knowledge with the characters, or even to know more than the characters themselves. It is the deliberate withholding of information, the careful orchestration of what is known and unknown, that truly grips the viewer.
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