Lois Weber

 How does the story of Lois Weber's Suspense unfold? What is the story?

1.) The film Suspense is a thriller film that tells the story of a woman and her new born child who were at home when a suspected robber approached. The man wandered the house until he found a spare key under a door mat and he breaks in the house. While all of this is going down the woman had contacted her husband and let him know their family is in danger he rushed home as the man entered the home and got closer to his family. It was at the last second that the robber was stopped and the man saved his family.

How does Weber use the camera to build suspense in Suspense?

2.) Weber used things like split screen to portray the emotions of multiple characters at once which helped build suspense. The use of split screen also made the climax of the interaction take longer which kept the viewers on the edge of their seat. We also likes the use of not zooming but walking towards the camera because it gave a feeling that the viewer was getting overtaken by the situation.

 

What themes emerge from your viewing and discussion?

3.) A theme that emerged throughout the whole film was the feelings of anticipation. The use of the camera angles and split screen kept us waiting for what was next and at no point did we really know the exact ending.

 

Given that Weber was the first woman to create a narrative feature film, we might expect ... what? That is, how did the film meet expectations regarding 1913 standards? How might it seem different today? Why? What cultural meanings might shift the narrative arc? 

 

4.) Given that the film was made in 1913 it met the standards of the time. This film portrayed the cultural norms at the time but it would be made differently today. In terms of the film techniques I would say this was ahead of its time, the split screens to fish eyes made the viewer feel on edge the whole time.