How is the feeling of Claustrophobia and disorientation created in 'The Third Man'?

The third man is a British Noir Film, created and released in the late 1940's and is set in a post war Vienna, which supports the bleak and dampened tone and mood of Noir films. The chase scene within The Third man manipulates and uses many specific techniques such as the camera angle, use of lighting, setting, sound and composition to create the feeling of disorientation and confusion as well as claustrophobia to the audience. 

The use of lighting was majorly important in the composing of the feeling of claustrophobia and disorientation. Like in nearly all Noir films, the lighting used is artificial and of high intensity to create the chiaroscuro feel that all Noir films contain. Here is an example of the extreme lighting in the chase scene.

The light source here is a harsh, high intensity back light which illuminates the figures in the distance from behind. This light is also the only light within the shot, and comes from a seeming vanishing point, which draws the audiences attention towards the end of the tunnel to the figures of the people. It is clever in its technique that a small proportion of the lighting reflects off the figures to bounce onto the walls so the audience can establish the setting, so the audience are aware of the  restricted space that the scene is taking place in, helping to build the sense of claustrophobia. The use of limited lighting in the small proportionally lit area compared to the rather large shot makes the audience feel furthermore confined as the lighting is controlling what the audience are exposed to, making them feel powerless and imprisoned.
It also makes the audience feel confused as the light at the end of the tunnel is ironically one which exposes the danger for Harry Limes safety, and therefore rebels against the lights usual connotations of safety and security.

The composition of the shots also is used to create the feeling of claustrophobia, as they use tight shots and pack out the frame with the characters taking up the entirety or almost the entirety of the shot. This is an example of a tight and constricted shot within the Third man chase scene where the camera is placed almost touching the characters, and as the camera is still, it makes the audience feel uncomfortably close to the characters, and makes the audience feel as if they are squeezing past, adding to the sense of claustrophobia they may be feeling.

The characters body language and facial expression can also put across to the audience the feeling of discomfort and feeling of entrapment which is created by the use of a close up, as it makes the audience connect with the character and empathise with their emotions and can understand what they are feeling and feel them too.
 The characters rigid and tense body language implies to the audience that he is scared and desperate, whilst his facial expression (what we can see from the 
chiaroscuro lighting) appears as if he is already admitting defeat, and through the open mouth that we can assume is him panting through lack of breath from running, the audience begin to feel that the chase is almost over. This creates the impression that he does not want to be in this situation, but he himself is trapped, and the audience then begin to sympathise with this morally ambiguous character and feel restricted as they have to watch him slowly admit defeat to himself and the audience feel once again powerless and unable to help as well as feeling confused as to why the director has chosen to attempt to make the audience feel empathy for a seemingly bad character.


The setting in which this scene is taking place in also helps create the feeling of claustrophobia by using confined spaces such as spiral stair cases,and tunnels, some of which are partially submerged in water.
 The actual setting is underground in a sewage works in Vienna, which in itself is rather unnerving to the audience and already makes them feel uneasy about the setting, which added to the mass of staircases and low ceiling tunnels creates a deep rooted sense of claustrophobia. The way in which Harry Lime is constantly running through passages and along staircases gives the impression that it is never ending, and that their is no escape or way out, building the sense of panic and restriction that the audience are feeling.
 With the setting being underground, and the fact that their is a large quantity of water underground with limited exits, makes the audience grow concerned, incase the tunnels become submerged, resulting in the character becoming trapped. Because they are following Harry on his journey to escape, it makes the audience feel more emotionally trapped and fearful for his life.

 The camera angles used play a significant part in the building up and creating of these effects.
 Obscured shots are commonly used in this sequence to make the audience feel further restricted and limited in what they are able to see, and as they cannot control what they themselves have in view, it creates a sense of panic, as well as the idea of repression as they are being held back by an object that is limiting their ability to escape.
Point of view shots are also used (as shown in this example) so that the audience witness things from Harry's eyes, making the scene become more realistic, and so that they are put in the characters position and therefore makes the situation more dramatic and terrifying for the audience to experience. The audience then begin to feel the urgency building up, with the characters desire to escape, and so at each attempt when he believes to be close to escaping, and we are then shown that the exits are infact blocked and more people are closing in on him (or with a point of view shot being used, us) it creates the feeling of imprisonment and claustrophobia.

As well as point of view shots, tilt shots are also used but to mainly disorientate the viewer as it drastically changes the view of everything within the shot, which especially when changed from a jump cut, confuse and disorientate the viewer. By using tilt shots, it also means that part of the frame is cut off, which as it is used when the character is running crouched through narrow spaces, further creates the sense of a lack of space and claustrophobia.

Sound in the chace sequence from The Third Man is hugely significant when considering how the sense of Claustrophobia and disorientation was created. During this scene, there is a large amount of diagetic sound within a short space of time, which along with not knowing the source of the sound, or from where it is coming from, it makes the audience feel confused and disorientated. 
The constant noise of soldiers footsteps running also makes sure that the audience cannot forget that Harry is running from people, and the evidently increasingly loud footsteps creates the feeling of the character, and through the character also the audience, becoming cornered.
Echoing is also used extremely effectively to create a sense of disorientation. In the chase scene, as shown in the picture, the character comes to an opening, surrounded by tunnels, which are his only means of escape, and echoing shouts are heard from the tunnel entrances.
The audience do not see the source of the noise, but already know that the noise is coming from the soldiers who are hunting him down, and because of the echoing shouts being reflected off the walls in the tunnels, it is unclear where they are coming from, and resulting in Harry having no true idea of which way is clear or safe and the audience feeling disorientated at the numerous faceless echos being called.
As well as the echos themselves being disorientating, the echos being called change between English and another language, which adds to the confusion of the audience as they are able to understand some of what is being said, but not all, making the audience feel confused and questioning what else they are not able to understand.