Almost every film plays with the viewer in some kind of “delayed gratification” — the film sets up a problem/issue/sequence and then delays the resolution of it. Often this delay is created by cutting away, either to another plot/subplot or just simply by having the camera look at something else for a while. The film creates in the viewer a strong need to know what’s going to happen, and delays letting us know. (Some films never let us know — Blade Runner. That is not the same.)

Assignment? Make a short film that does this.