The Lonely Villa Suspense Analysis

Suspense is a 1913 film that portrays the story of a tramp intruding into a family’s home, where a mother takes care of her child while her husband is away. The plot is a common one that had been used previous times before the film’s release, such as in The Lonely Villa (1909). However, through taking advantage of the single frame shot, the filmmakers were able to create a masterful aesthetic of two separate stories that turn a basic plot into a complex story. The film created an inventive way of illustrating stories within cinema by allowing the audience the chance to consume more narrative in less time within just one take.

Parallel editing, or cross cutting, aligns multiple storylines that are happening at the same time in order to sustain the actions of each characters. In Suspense, this technique is used continuously to follow the paths of the tramp, wife, husband, and police. However, the

basic use of parallel editing can only allow so much to a viewer’s experience in the dynamic of characters and multiple plot lines. The single frame shot causes depth and perspective on a common story that was not utilized until Suspense. While parallel editing causes the viewer to have breathing room and a chance to digest the intricacies of storylines with a cut between shots, single frame shots cause the viewer to soak in each aspect that the director has laid out for them, mise-en-scene and all.
In one scene, the husband drives a stolen car towards home after his wife tells him about a tramp intruding into their home.

The police and car owner follow close behind him, trying to get the husband to pull over. The use of the single frame displays the husband’s dark silhouette as the camera focuses on the rearview mirror where the police can be seen gaining on him. It allows the viewer to take in both storylines simultaneously. The husband is still racing home to help his wife, but the police in the mirror also show the duality of his worries as they literally and figuratively hang over his shoulder. Meanwhile, in the mirror, the police are seen trying to grasp the husband in order to get him to stop. The two spaces for the characters gives the chance for the film to focus on the overall plot progression versus the time cut between the husband and the police separately. It decreases the amount of time that audiences spend on one character and their storyline instead it forces them to understand the dynamics of every storyline and how they interact with one

another.
The police are smaller in size compared to the husband’s silhouette. This formation causes the viewer to see which character is more prominent towards the plot, especially the point where the police and car owner slowly slip out of view of the mirror. The police car falling out of view causes the viewer to see the husband as gaining momentum towards going home and also seeing that the police are not equipped to pull him over, which also could depict their inability to save the wife later on. The husband blazing on demonstrates that he has to be the hero in this situation while the police are merely an obstacle for him getting home. The viewer does not know whether or not the police will be able to catch up to the husband, so the cops filling up the mirror’s view as well as falling away causes the suspense of the scene to be increased.
The suspense originates from the husband’s silhouette also causes anonymity by the police’s inability to identify who he is and only see a stranger stealing a car. The identity of the husband is shrouded for both parties to be unaware of what will be their fates. Will the police capture this man? Will the wife be saved or killed? These questions show that the duality of the husband’s role in the story is both the lack of acknowledgment the police have of this man as well as the ambiguity to what may occur to each of these storylines. The obscurity about what will happen to the husband could disrupt the potential of every storyline, which causes this scene to be substantial. If the husband gets pulled over, he cannot save the wife. The scene shows both storylines as well as the consequences from the characters’ actions. The black figure allows these two storylines to merge with one another and lead them to a potential collusion when the husband jumps out of the car later on to get to his home.
This shot is not the only that provides a compression of two scenes, which allows it to become part of a pattern that is throughout the film. These types of shots blend two separate shots that become included into one frame in order to show one continuous plot, so the viewer can see the puzzle of the multiple storylines begin to come together. Other than the scene I’ve described, it is also present in a reverse shot of the police chasing the husband with the camera seemingly positioned inside the police car. This single frame still continues to show the significance of the husband compared to the police because, in contrast, his face can be seen without the assistance of an object and the police’s faces are unable to be seen in this shot. It further perpetuates that the police are merely his obstacle to getting home rather than participating characters.
Another scene is similar to this set up when the husband makes it to the bedroom to ensure of his family’s wellbeing. The two storylines collide as the police and car owner see the reason why the husband stole the car and drove off with it. This single frame shot focuses on the characters becoming aware of everything that the viewer was aware of the entire time. It allows the audience to focus on the reactions of the characters rather than everything that is happening in that moment. The car owner consoling the husband and waving off the police from pressing charges. The husband embracing his wife and infant. The police and car owner leaving them alone to be with one another as they lay in the very room the wife could have died in. The use of single frame crams the resolution of the storylines into one shot in order to allow the audience to come to an overall relief rather than dragging it on.
The single frame is significant within the context of Suspense because it portrays something that editing and special effects cannot, which is the complexity of the story within one shot at a time. Through one shot, we are able to see the actions and emotions of characters that sometimes lose something in editing. This technique has been carried over to present films in order to capture more in less time. The film allowed shots to become encompass more narrative and character development rather than depend on the act of editing to do so