Suspense (1913)
Experimental Beginnings
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10m
Mother & baby alone. Tramp intrudes. Husband races home in stolen car. Split-screen suspense!
Suspense, a 1913 silent short by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley, deviates from the standard one-scene, one-action format prevalent at the time. Suspense unfolds a thrilling narrative through parallel editing, a technique then in its infancy. We see the desperate plight of a wife alone at home facing a break-in intercut with the frantic efforts of her husband rushing to her aid.
Weber and Smalley further heighten the tension through innovative camerawork. Close-ups magnify the emotions on the wife's face, while high-angle shots create a sense of vulnerability within the home. The film even features an early example of a split-screen, allowing the audience to witness both the unfolding crime and the husband's mounting desperation simultaneously.
Suspense's influence on cinema is significant. The film's use of parallel editing paved the way for more complex storytelling techniques in silent films and beyond. It demonstrated the power of camerawork to shape audience experience and foreshadowed the suspenseful thrillers of later decades.
While not as abstract or surreal as some later experimental films, Suspense's willingness to break away from traditional filmmaking conventions secures its place as a pioneering work in the movement.
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