Suspense Film Review
The 1913 film, “Suspense” directed by Lois Weber, is a popular short story involving important filming techniques with the various shots as well as classic characters like the damsel in distress and conquering prince. Weber’s film is an influential piece that can be considered a “must see” because of its’ short length and quick paced plot. The film involves popular filming methods that can be seen in modern day films, as well as films created during this time. Weber’s use of an easy to identify protagonist and antagonist helps the members of the audience quickly pick out the different characters’ and their roles in the plot.
The plot of the film is a classic one. The first scene begins with a maid quitting her job working in the main household. She spies on the mother and the baby through the keyhole. During this scene, the shot used, a keyhole shot, allows the audience to view the scene through the keyhole that the maid was looking through. This makes the audience feel like the maid, secretive and cautious. The film continues with the maid leaving the key under the mat and the women’s husband calling from work. An interesting filming technique used in this scene is the split screen that shows the maid, the husband, and the women onscreen but in separate locations. This filming technique has been used in modern films as well as older films. The plot thickens when the maid passes a tramp on the road leading away from the household. The tramp is interested with the house and begins poking around. The woman calls her husband at work who quickly steals a car and races back to the household. A classic car chase ensues, when the owner of the stolen car gathers a group of policemen and they drive after their criminal. Interesting shots are used in the car chase, like when the side view window of the car is used to look behind at the policemen in the car behind the husbands’. Extra suspense is used when the scene continues to switch from the mother at home and the car chase. Back at the house, the woman and her baby hide in the upstairs bedroom while the tramp travels up the stairs towards her hiding place. At the last minute, the policemen and husband arrive and startle the tramp. They capture the criminal and the wife is reunited with her husband the hero.
An influential scene in the film "Suspense" is the car chase scene when the husband is rushing home to save his wife from the intruder (seen around 6:30, 7:30, etc) . The classic damsel in distress, along with the car chase gives the audience a feeling of suspense as well as uncertainty having to do with the outcome of the situation. The car chase is an extremely popular filming technique, because it involves conflict and encourages the audience to root for the protagonist as well as become more enthralled with the film. The car chase is a popular technique used in modern filming so "Suspense" might have been influential to other movie makers later on in the filming industry. The use of car chases has become one of the most popularly used scenes in the filming world. The actual car chase in “Suspense” uses some revolutionary filming techniques that have not been often repeated, but work extremely well in the short film. Some interesting camera angles are used in the shooting of Suspense. At 8:30 in the film the camera is looking at the side view mirror of the husband’s vehicle, giving the audience a view of the perusing car as well as part of the husbands face. This is a unique style of filming that does a great job in making the car chase scene more engaging and dramatic.
The 1913 film, “Suspense” directed by Lois Weber, is a popular short story involving important filming techniques with the various shots as well as classic characters like the damsel in distress and conquering prince. Weber’s film is an influential piece that can be considered a “must see” because of its’ short length and quick paced plot. The film involves popular filming methods that can be seen in modern day films, as well as films created during this time. Weber’s use of an easy to identify protagonist and antagonist helps the members of the audience quickly pick out the different characters’ and their roles in the plot.
The plot of the film is a classic one. The first scene begins with a maid quitting her job working in the main household. She spies on the mother and the baby through the keyhole. During this scene, the shot used, a keyhole shot, allows the audience to view the scene through the keyhole that the maid was looking through. This makes the audience feel like the maid, secretive and cautious. The film continues with the maid leaving the key under the mat and the women’s husband calling from work. An interesting filming technique used in this scene is the split screen that shows the maid, the husband, and the women onscreen but in separate locations. This filming technique has been used in modern films as well as older films. The plot thickens when the maid passes a tramp on the road leading away from the household. The tramp is interested with the house and begins poking around. The woman calls her husband at work who quickly steals a car and races back to the household. A classic car chase ensues, when the owner of the stolen car gathers a group of policemen and they drive after their criminal. Interesting shots are used in the car chase, like when the side view window of the car is used to look behind at the policemen in the car behind the husbands’. Extra suspense is used when the scene continues to switch from the mother at home and the car chase. Back at the house, the woman and her baby hide in the upstairs bedroom while the tramp travels up the stairs towards her hiding place. At the last minute, the policemen and husband arrive and startle the tramp. They capture the criminal and the wife is reunited with her husband the hero.
An influential scene in the film "Suspense" is the car chase scene when the husband is rushing home to save his wife from the intruder (seen around 6:30, 7:30, etc) . The classic damsel in distress, along with the car chase gives the audience a feeling of suspense as well as uncertainty having to do with the outcome of the situation. The car chase is an extremely popular filming technique, because it involves conflict and encourages the audience to root for the protagonist as well as become more enthralled with the film. The car chase is a popular technique used in modern filming so "Suspense" might have been influential to other movie makers later on in the filming industry. The use of car chases has become one of the most popularly used scenes in the filming world. The actual car chase in “Suspense” uses some revolutionary filming techniques that have not been often repeated, but work extremely well in the short film. Some interesting camera angles are used in the shooting of Suspense. At 8:30 in the film the camera is looking at the side view mirror of the husband’s vehicle, giving the audience a view of the perusing car as well as part of the husbands face. This is a unique style of filming that does a great job in making the car chase scene more engaging and dramatic.