Touch of Evil Opening Shot

In the opening shot of Touch of Evil, Orson Welles is able to create tension and suspense by effectively using the off frame aspect of the mise-en-scene. By allowing the scene to move outside the focus of action, at particularly untimely moments, Welles places the audience in short but effective moments of unresolved tension and suspense, effectively luring the spectator psychologically further into the opening shot and the rest of the film. At the very …

…was purposely let to escape the spectator in order to create the suspense Orson Welles wanted the audience to experience. He used the off-frame technique to further emphasize the danger and evil of the bomb in the car, and to very precisely leave us unresolved and anxious. The brief moments of this unresolved tension lured the audience further and further into the film, setting up the perfect beginning and foundation to this classis film noir.