Offstage

Uses

In the horror genre, placing action offstage or offscreen often serves to heighten the dramatic force of a scene. The Grand Guignol theatre in Paris made much use of this technique; in 1901's Au tėlėphone, the violence is presented at the remove of a telephone connection. In 1931's Dracula, director Tod Browning uses offscreen action to avoid showing scenes of murder, and obscures the action of Dracula rising from his grave. While this served to meet Motion Picture Production Code standards, which dictated that "brutal killings are not to be shown in detail", Browning's offscreen action also maintains the macabre mood of the film. The choice of what the audience is shown in place of the elided action can also contribute to the sense of horror through its symbolic value. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), during the murder of Ivy Pierson, director Rouben Mamoulian focuses his camera on a statuette of Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss, which acts as an ironic commentary on the action.