Although it’s less common, filmmakers also have the ability to expand time when it suits their purpose. Imagine movies where the hero tries to defuse the bomb as it counts down from 10 seconds, until he cuts the blue wire with 1 second left. That 9-second event often takes many minutes of screen time. In the scene below, the woman is locked in a room on the stage

as the bad guy steps closer and closer. Meanwhile, the good guy (Cary Grant) is under the stage, trying to find a trap door to foil the bad guy. Note how many steps the bad guy takes to go about 10 feet. This whole thing takes much longer than it would in real life. But that’s what makes it exciting!