Cape Fear School Yard Scene Analysis

From the very start of the school yard scene in Cape Fear the use of non-diegetic sounds such as the sinister soundtrack immediately commence. The music begins slowly with a low, trembling stringed bass line that foreshadows the upcoming threat that is soon to come and creates a tense atmosphere from the mark. In addition to this Thompson chooses to begin the scene with a long shot of the schoolgirls entering the courtyard showing everything as normal. However, as Nancy and her friends are walking the camera tracks her moving downwards that leads to the camera looking through the iron school bars. This shot cleverly and quickly influences the viewer to see the forthcoming danger by suggesting Nancy is encaged as the bars represent a prison cell and that there is no escape. Furthermore, a little later in the scene, we observe Cady on the opposite side of the bars grasping onto them and the placement of both could remind the viewer that Cady has just been released from prison. We also notice at this point that unlike ordinary school bars they have spikes both in and top of them, this is likely hinting a phallic symbol early on in the scene.   

The camera then tracks Nancy to the car door where it transitions into a mid-shot; this shows her cautious expression and her looking around as if she feels Cady watching her, this creates suspension. As Nancy gets into the car the camera follows her until looking through the window, we see now that Nancy moves from the light of the day into some shadow on the driver side of the car. The fact that she chooses to move onto the far side of the car and not the passenger side/the side she enters may suggest Nancy is trying to get as far out of reach as possible, not only this but she may feel comfort in sitting in the driver’s seat. What’s more, as mentioned, Nancy is now in a mix of shadow and light, Thompson may have chosen to do this as to prefigure the threat of Cady.

Thompson then chooses to allow the audience into knowing Cady is coming by filming a long shot of him walking past a large fountain. Diegetic sounds that sound like ‘hissing’ are produced from here by the water spraying out of the fountains, which could signify a snakes hiss and therefore show danger.  This could also be taken as far as calling Cady demonic, as snakes, in the bible, are the devil. Other diegetic sounds used in this scene include footsteps from either character, these help to create tension; Nancy’s footsteps are lighter and quicker but also clumsy making the audience on edge and Cady’s footsteps are heavy, robotic and inhuman showing the power and control he has over Nancy. 

A threatening atmosphere is successfully established continuously during the scene but moreover in the locker room section. We see Nancy running down the stairs in a frantic manner as to escape from Cady who we believe is following close behind. The panting heard from Nancy adds to the suspension and cause the audience to empathise with the character. As ‘Cady’ moves in Thompson chooses a close up shot deliberately of his groin area implying a sexual threat. This is reiterated incessantly by the cigar Cady is smoking throughout, which is also a phallic symbol. His footsteps are used to majorly encourage the threatening atmosphere here by being very slow and clear indicating inevitable jeopardy. Thompson also stresses this by the sound of the creaking door as he trails behind.  

The choice of clothing used for either character is also very interesting in this scene; Thompson has chosen to dress Cady in light clothes that appear very prominent in the darkened room. Contrastingly Nancy is still in her school uniform, this infers two things; the first being that she is still very young and only a child thus not able to defend herself against such a man but also she most likely does not even know why Cady is after her. The second is Nancy’s obvious innocence in the film; she has not done anything to entice this criminal yet he continues to latch onto her.