Red herrings

Red herrings

• A red herring is the name given to a device which intends to divert the audience from the truth or an item of significance.
• Can work with other devices (enigmas) to create suspense.
• In saw, two characters spend time imprisoned in a room in which a third character lies dead. Throughout the film, both characters appear to be guilty of a series of murders, until it is discovered at the end that the third person in the room is not actually dead but is, in fact the killer.
• North by North West (Hitchcock 1958)
• “Dusting crops where there aren't any crops”
• Main character, Thornhill, sent to meet a man (Kaplan) who will explain why he has been mistaken for a government agent and, we believe, help him.