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Newton Howard to score the climax so as to not build too quickly to a high pitch of excitement. According to Howard, “Michael was very clear about the climax taking place in three movements.” “Movements” as an artistic term is usually applied to the parts of a symphony, a concerto, or a sonata. Thus the idea was that the score for this last part of the film should play a major role in shaping the progression and rhythm of the action.
    The climax involves Vincent trying to kill a character who is important to Max and Max trying frantically to save both himself and this other character. Howard and Mann called the first movement “The Race to Warn,” since Vincent gets ahead of Max in running to the building where the potential victim is located. Despite the fact that both men are running and the situation is suspenseful, Howard avoids very fast rhythms. He begins with long-held string chords over a deep, rumbling sound, then adds sustained brass chords with a strong beat accompanying them. The accompaniment is dynamic but doesn’t reach a high pitch of excitement.
    The second movement, “The Cat and Mouse,” involves Vincent getting into the building, turning off the electricity, and stalking his victim in near darkness ( 1.3 ). Again, the chords are slow, with ominous undertones, dissonant glides, and, at a few points, fast, eerie high-string figures as Vincent nears his goal. During the most suspenseful moments in the scene, when Vincent and his prey are in the darkened room, strings and soft, clicking percussion accompany their cautious, hesitant movements.
    Finally, there is a rapid chase sequence, and here Howard finally makes the music louder and faster, with driving tympani beats that ratchet up to a very quick rhythm as the danger grows. Once the final climactic events occur, the percussion ends, and slow, low strings create a sort of coda to accompany the final quiet shots.
    As the making of
Collateral
demonstrates, the technological basis of filmmaking plays a crucial role in bringing the artistic plans of its makers into reality. With the recent proliferation of digital tools for production, filming teams have more choices than ever to make.
    These decisions and many others that Mann and his team made during their work on
Collateral
affect our experience of the film. The unfamiliar look that the digital cameras and innovative lighting give Los Angeles may draw our attention to the settings and give us a more vivid sense of the world through which the characters move. The music accompanying the fast-chase/slow-stalking/fast-chase progression of the climax helps heighten the suspense and build the excitement.
Mechanics of the Movies
    Films are everywhere now, almost as widely available as print or music. But how do they get made in the first place? “Making a movie” means two very different things. First, people make films with machines. Anyone with a pen and paper can write a novel, and a talented kid with a guitar can become a musician. Movies require much more. Even the simplest home video camera is based on fiendishly complex technology. A major film involves elaborate cameras, lighting equipment, multitrack sound-mixing studios, sophisticated laboratories, and computer-generated special effects. Making a movie also involves businesses. Companies manufacture the equipment, other companies provide funding for the film, still others distribute it, and finally theaters or other venues present the result to an audience. In the rest of this chapter, we’ll consider how these two sides of making movies—technology and business—shape film as an art.
Illusion Machines
    Moving-image media such as film and video couldn’t exist if human vision were perfect. Our eyes are very sensitive, but they can be tricked. As anyone who has paused a DVD knows, a film consists of a series of
frames,
or still pictures. Yet we don’t perceive the separate frames. Instead, we see continuous light and movement. What