Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
   
Mise-En-Scene

The mise-en-scene throughout the opening of the 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' is key in building and maintain tension. One of the best examples of  mise-en-scene helping to build and or maintain the tension in the opening is when the protagonist goes to meet a Hungarian informant regarding a mole. The two characters sit across from each other in a little back alley café, This setting helps to add to the tension In the scene as the location they are in does not seem safe and the viewer is unsure about the intentions of the other characters, as well as this the Tension is built by the facial expressions of the two main characters as well as by the facial expressions and bodily expressions of the people surrounding/and inside of the café, an example of one of the café characters being on edge is the waiter who gives the two main characters there drinks, he is sweating a lot and has shaky hands when placing the coffee down showing the viewer that he is nervous and is on edge, as well as this there is a close up of a puddle of sweat on the table this little puddle of sweat has connotations of a puddle of blood foreshadowing to the viewer the potential violence to come. this then in turn puts the audience on edge as they don't know what to expect. This level of suspense, tension, and mystery is maintained throughout the opening by using mise-en-scene to portray a dangerous locational situation that is surrounded with uncertain characters with unknown intentions, this vast level of uncertainty leaves the viewer feeling uneasy and tense, which is exactly what a thriller is supposed to do.

Camera  
The camerawork is very important in helping to create tension and helping to build lots of mystery's for the viewer. It does this by mostly using medium to long shots this means that the viewer always has a lot of  locational/contextual visual information being given to them, this in turn confuses the viewer and leaves them with too much information to process and not enough time this builds up the tension the opening sequence. As well as this the camera does a lot of close ups on facial expressions to give the viewer an idea of certain characters physical and mental states, in the café scene there is a close up on the both the waiters face revealing to the audience how much he is sweating and there is a close up of a bead of sweat that has hit the table, this shows the viewer that he is nervous and creates an enigma around as to why he is nervous. The camera work cleverly mixes between close ups to show character expressions and long shots to show dangerous setting this mixture of camera angles builds lot of tension and helps to reinforce mystery. 

Editing  

The editing also helps to build and or create tension throughout the opening as it starts out slow and not cutting very often and as the scene builds up towards its climax the editing pace gets considerably faster, this faster cutting then creates tension amongst the viewers and leaves them awaiting the climax of the scene, at this point the editing slows down considerably and then the climax of the scene is reached making the scene much more dramatic and powerful. The scene that uses this technique most

promomantly is the one were the main character gets shot when leaving the café, the cuts building up to the shot are very fast and then abruptly stop when he shots, this creates the effect of the gun shot stopping not just the character, but stopping the scene entirely, which is much more powerful and helps to maintain the tension and suspense within the scene. As well as this fast cuts are used to create a mystery/enigma as they cut so fast the viewer doesn't have enough time to get used to one scene, and so is left not just "on the edge of their seat" but are left guessing and unsure as to what to expect next this mystery also adds to the tension. Fast and slow cuts are used throughout the opening and are used to different extents depending on what part of the scene you are watching.

Sound
The sound throughout the opening is used to build tension. One example of this is when the main character is walking to the café, there is a constant but slight crescedoing  non- Diegetic background which builds with the drama/tension in the scene this helps to build the tension within the scene and helps to build up the suspense. Another way in which the sound builds up the tension in a scene is when the two characters are staring at each other in silence the

non-diegetic music stops and everything goes quite except the diegtic sounds of a rattling coffee mug, this near silence is then abruptly interrupted by the sound of a pigeon landing, this sound is very fast and loud and so it essentially cuts through the silence of the scene abruptly and makes the viewer jump as they were left in suspense waiting for something big to happen but it was just the sound of the pigeon, This I very clever as it builds the tension extremely high right before the climax of the scene making it again more powerful and dramatic.