Directed by Terry George, Hotel Rwanda is a movie that depicts the true story of the civil war that occurred in Rwanda. It shows how the ruthless Hutu’s, one of the two groups created by the Belgians to segregate the black citizens based on what they look like, hunt down the innocent Tutsi’s, the other of the two groups. This film reveals the horror of this war to the audience and sparks up the question of how innocent are people everywhere. Terry George uses many techniques within his movie, which all then contribute by adding even more sparks into his audience. In one particular way, George adds tension in his scenes. Building up tension effects the audience throughout every scene. It can intrigue the audiences, make them feel all kinds of emotions and can then make the audience ponder about certain shots and scenes. Grabbing the attention of the audience is very beneficial for George. It means that he can spread those sparks and make people realise the effect of war. George uses many cinematographic techniques in the movie to develop tension and give off an eerie atmosphere throughout the movie. In one scene in particular Terry George offloads many techniques and that is Paul’s ‘epiphany’ scene.

Paul and Gregoire are driving back from George’s warehouse, on a road that was suggested by George, as he said it was clear. As they are driving the car starts to shake violently and it appeared that they were driving over things. Frantically, they stop the car and Paul steps out only to trip and fall. To his horror, Paul falls onto a dead woman. In a panic, he jumps up and was terror stricken when his eyes glared upon the path before him. It was filled with dead bodies. It then came to the realisation that when George meant the road was clear, it was clear of Tutsi. Paul suddenly then realised the expanse of the situation they were in.

One way Terry George develops tension in the scene is by adding sound effects and background music. This can also build up the emotions in Paul’s epiphany scene and could even tell a story without changing the scene or camera shot. On the shot when the camera zoomed in on the dead woman, you could hear the sound of a machete slash. That communicates to the audience that all these dead people were all slaughtered by machetes. This makes us feel fear and remain in disbelief over this current shocking situation. Also within the background of the scene there is music that constantly builds up. The effect of that built up the suspense and created an eerie atmosphere. Just like in horror films music is used to create tension and prepares the audience for a jump scare. The use of music in Paul’s epiphany scene was not to prepare the audience for a jump but to prepare them for the horror of witnessing all those dead people.

The director also uses many types of camera shots to develop tension and play with the emotions of the audience. It can also develop the audiences view on the scene.  At one point the director used a point of view shot on Paul. This shot showed us the dead bodies lying around through Paul’s eyes. There is a lot of power from a point of view shot. By having a point of view it places us, the audience, in Paul’s position. It makes it seem as though we are there and are witnessing the aftermath of the massacre. This easily plays with the audiences emotions just by one trick from the director. It can petrify the audience, make them sick and really make them tearful. That shot makes the scene seem much more worse and gives the audience a better understanding on what was going on. The director also uses close ups on dead bodies, which definitely strikes shock into the audience. It demonstrates the reality of wars and can cause us all to feel sick in the stomach. The tension, without a doubt, was increased majorly.

Another feature Terry George uses, is special effects. The director uses fog during the beginning of the scene. When Paul and Gregoire are driving back there is fog and mist surrounding them. That disallows them and us to see through the window and what is in front of them. The fog can build the tension because alerts the audience that something is going to happen. The fog can also be interpreted as pathetic fallacy. It announces something bad is a about to happen. This mist gets thicker and thicker and in the end makes the characters drive onto the dead bodies. Once Paul sees the dead woman the fog clears completely. The fog builds up the tension, as not just the characters, but the audience cannot see what is going to happen and can make the audience nervous, especially when the car starts to shake.

Terry George also uses focus in this scene to enlarge the tension. In some shots the director blurs out the background and focuses on Paul’s face. That forces us to examine the emotions that are on Paul’s face. That can then make us feel the same emotions as Paul, or maybe feel worse. George also focuses on the background at some points and blurs the foreground, so he would blur Paul and focus on the dead people in the background. This could make the audience feel even more worse as it gives them nothing else to look at besides these dead people. It has this effect that tells the audience you have to focus on this and cannot turn away. This will build the tension. By using all these techniques Terry George can accomplish building tension and can then make his work more effective. He can capture the minds of his audience and will fulfill his purpose of the film.