David Wark Griffith’s The Lonely Villa (1909) and Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley’s Suspense (1913) benchmark the evolution of cinematic language. The Lonely Villa opens with a wide shot of three robbers, depicted as small figures positioned audience-left in a wide, proscenium frame. Behind them, a halo of bushes, and in the far background, a beautiful, large house.
Fig. 1: D.W. Griffith's The Lonely Villa (1909)
This opening shot sets the stage and is one of the few instances where the film experiments with a deep horizon for narrative effect.
The robbers case the home by having one of them pose as a delivery boy and delivering a letter to the husband that calls him elsewhere. Although the husband gives his wife and three daughters a gun before leaving, the robber is able to take the bullets without her noticing. The husband gives the delivery boy a disappointing tip and leaves, then the three robbers burst through the house's front door.
They attempt to get the wife and her daughters, overcoming several obstacles. The wife is able to call the husband, and he begins his journey to save them. There is then parallel editing between the scene at the home and the husband's journey. Ultimately, the husband is able to retrieve the police and save his family.
In Suspense, a maid quits and leaves the woman of the house to fend for herself during a home invasion by a traveler who finds the key to the house that the maid left under the mat. The wife is able to alert the husband and he returns home, encountering several roadblocks on his way, such as a boy he hits. Finally, the man is able to save his wife.
Advancements in cinematic language found in Suspense, compared to a similar story in The Lonely Villa, include utilizing image depth to create more interesting compositions; breaking away from static wide shots in the proscenium style; and the use of analytical editing.
In the context of mise-en-scène, shallow compositional depth refers to the arrangement of actors and production design at various distances from the camera to create a sense of depth in the image. Cinematography-wise, a shallow depth of field keeps only a narrow plane in focus, causing other elements in the frame to be blurred. This is achieved by using a wide aperture on the camera lens and is often used to emphasize the main subject or object of the shot.
Fig. 1: D.W. Griffith's The Lonely Villa (1909)
This frame displays a shallow compositional depth, it is flat. The wall and window establish the horizon, the children and then the father create visual layers. The entrance of the servants between the front and middle planes adds dynamism.
Fig. 1: Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley’s Suspense (1913)
This image utilizes image depth. It shows the backs of drivers' heads as they chase a car down a road we see winding into the distance.
Proscenium style filming refers to setting the film frame to imitate what an audience member would see at a live theater performance, the edges of the stage replicated by the edges of the film.
Fig. 1: D.W. Griffith's The Long Villa (1909)
A frame showcasing the proscenium style, with a flat background and actors positioned to create depth, reminiscent of a theatrical stage setting.
Fig. 1: Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley’s Suspense (1913)
This example departs from the proscenium style, utilizing a deep depth of field to capture the servant leaving the house, as seen through the planks of the porch roof. This composition adds suspense and intrigue.
Suspense broke away from the static wide shots typical of the proscenium style by using a variety of experimental, yet intuitive camera frames and angles. One of its creative choices was to use eye-level shots, which created intimacy and realism by placing the audience on the same level as the characters. Low and high angle shots were also used to express power dynamics in the scene and between the characters.
Suspense also evolved analytical editing, which was the trend to construct the shots of a film in seamless and evocative ways, imitating the experience of witnessing something in real life. In real life you may enter a grocery store, see the place as a whole, narrow your focus to an aisle, a specific pile of fruit, and then each individual one as you select one. So does analytical editing use film language to narrow the audience's focus, and create other replications of the experience of existing and perceiving. It also emphasizes continuity to maintain the clarity of the narrative.
Fig. 1: D.W. Griffith's The Lonely Villa (1909)
These edge-frames illustrate editing techniques prior to the introduction of analytical editing, establishing shot to establishing shot.
Similar to The Lonely Villa there is parallel editing between the scenes at the home during the invasion and the husband returning in Suspense. One example that shows how the film is innovative is how they cover the driving of the car.
Fig. 1: Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley’s Suspense (1913)
These frames show matching action edits, the audience sees the husband hit a smoking boy on his way home in a MS and then the man helps the boy in a wide.
Fig. 1: Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley’s Suspense (1913)
This frame shows the introduction of a close up.
Fig. 1: Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley’s Suspense (1913)
The audience sees from the maid's perspective through a keyhole as the woman of the house rocks her baby, adding a voyeuristic vibe.
The Lonely Villa and Suspense are both significant markers in the history of the film medium. The Lonely Villa uses proscenium-like frames and creates a stage for the action, while Suspense evolves film language by breaking with the proscenium style framing, developing analytical editing, and choosing alternative camera angles and framing. These films continue to educate future filmmakers on the language of cinema.
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