German Expressionism is film movement of darkness, madness, and fear and few films personify German Expressionism as the Robert Wiene 1920 silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Considered the quintessential work of the German Expressionist era, Dr. Caligari demonstrates many of the stylistic and thematic elements of the aesthetic movement. In the sequence used for this paper many of these elements such as editing and mise en scene are seen.
Mes-en-scene is widely considered the main draw of German Expressionism. Rather than focusing on the realism of the real world, German Expressionism counters the principle of realism and practises extreme distortion as means to communicate inner emotional reality (Johnson, 2010). Generally this distorted reality expresses the dark and twisted themes of the narrative through it’s Me-es-scene.
Throughout the The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Wiene use specific lighting techniques that are characteristic of German Expressionism to demonstrate themes of horror and madness and this sequence is no different. Much of the sequence, as well as the film, uses very flat lighting. This was
…show more content…
Chiaroscuro lighting is described as “a form of lighting depicting stark contrasts between light and shadow” (Yvonne Njuguna). Throughout the sequence, very defined shadows are being created using very strong contrasts between darkness and light. A good example of this is seen during the scene depicting the murder of Mr. Alan. During this scene Wiene uses sharp defined shadows to not only push forward the narrative through a silhouette of Mr Alan being stabbed but it is also used to instill fear in the audience as well as distort their perspective. Strangely enough shadows and streaks of light are painted directly onto the sets, further distorting the viewer's sense of perspective and three-dimensionality. (John D. Barlow.
Lighting is used as a major technique in this film as it is often used to set the mood. Due to Vidal’s world always being shown enveloped in blue-grey hue, it immediately shows the viewers that is isn’t a welcoming place to be. This shade of lighting helps create a detached feeling which is in great contrast to the golden, homely, and warm lighting of Ofelia’s fantasy world portraying a safe and enchanting atmosphere.
The cinematography of the film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was very effective to the audience at the time. During the 1920’s, it wasn’t common to have a horror movie like this with a dark and twisted visual style. Because of the cinematography of this German film, it actually had a major influence on the American films in horror and film noir genres. To get the cinematography right, they had to exaggerate the lighting to give off the feel of it being a horror film.
Lighting is used expressively in the film. When Marion goes to the Bates motel the lighting is more subdued.
For this scene natural lighting is being utilized. The lighting is comes from the available source within the scene, which are the several lamps hanging from the ceilings throughout the pizzeria. The three point light system can also be seen in this scene. The main lighting source is the key light. An example of this is present, when we first see Sal at the beginning of the scene. We see a light coming from the left side of the frame. This light illuminates one part of his face but casts a shadow on the other half part. Here we have a high key lighting. The use of fill light is also present; we can see an example of this in the shot where we see Vito reaction that what Sal is saying. One half of his face is lit by the key light
Lewis uses lighting to dramatize the opening scene of the film and characterize the protagonist of the story. The most noticeable utilization of film noir lighting is in the beginning
Stylistically, M appears to be a continuation of the style that was established in cinema through the German Expressionist movement and developed through the Kammerspielfilm, which focused on the actors, lighting, and set design to further investigate the psychological foundations of characters in middle and lower-class environments (150). M can be considered to be part of the third type of film that was produced during the Weimar period that is known as die neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), which portrays "fatalistic and grimy lower-class realism" through the cinematic lens (150). M is able to marry characteristics found in each of these three periods of German cinema.
Karl begins to tell his story under the soft light of the lamp. His story is accompanied by a strong and slow heartbeat. As the story is reaching its horrific climax, the heartbeat quickens, and with the last word of the story, the heartbeat now louder and quicker than ever, stops. The lighting creates a chilling moment in the movie. The constant use of lighting is most definitely contemporary noir.
Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down, and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-air. These are the opening lines to the intro song of the television comedy “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, that me and every 90’s kids with a TV has had memorized since the day we first heard it. Even as you read that first sentence, you can’t help but to rap the words, and hum the tune as you envision a young Will Smith spinning on his royal chair with the graffiti background. The effect of the lyrics and the music video to this intro song goes way beyond pure entertainment value. The music video and lyrics spread happiness,
Regarding plot and structure of the play we can see that the play is disjointed and broken
Another technique that is used is changing light with reference to the plot structure. The use of lighting has allowed the audience to see the obvious contrast between the beginning when Szpilman was having a happy life, and after the Nazi came and occupied so that how Polish Jews are getting dehumanised. For instance, the light was extremely bright at the beginning of the film, Szpilman was playing the piano at the radio station and having a meal with the family. When the Nazi
I am writing about the use of lighting in the opening scene of The Godfather, (1). The
The Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels in the Bible, is a radical departure from the simple style of the synoptic gospels. It is the only one that does not use parables as a way of showing how Jesus taught, and is the only account of several events, including the raising of Lazarus and Jesus turning water into wine. While essentially the gospel is written anonymously, many scholars believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime between the years 85 and 95 CE in Ephesus. The basic story is that of a testimonial of one of the Apostles and his version of Jesus' ministry. It begins by telling of the divine origins of the birth of Jesus, then goes on to prove that He is the Son of
The art world has a limitless array of mediums and different artistic periods, challenging the opinion of what should be accepted by the masses. "Expressionism is the art of the emotive, the art of tension provoked by consciousness of the forces which surround modern humankind." Challenging the academic traditions of the previous centuries, Edvard Munch impacted the art world as an instrumental leader in the development of modern German expressionism. His painting The Scream has made its mark in questioning the ideals of what is acceptable concerning the history of art. The paper will discuss Munch’s life history, uncovering the influences which led him to expressionism, as well as a detailed description and analysis of The Scream,
Cuarón has used many different criteria of mise-en-scene to help viewers see his message, and the use of lighting in this scene was no exception. The way the director uses the lighting in the miracle cease fire scene portrays different emotions and sends the message that things will end up okay. Light is a know symbol for hope, and the way the Alfonso uses lighting at the start of the scene and at the building itself shows that it is a gloomy and hazardous place due to the war and violence happening. However, as the scene progress at 0:14 the lighting is on Theo and Kee carrying the baby, it also lights up when all the other occupants of the building are looking at the child as it is a ray of hope during all the hard times the people are having. Another example of when the lighting is used to emphasize the hope in the new born child is at 1:15 as the lighting from the window above is focused on Theo and Kee again as all the soldiers come in a stop to see the child. Even in the mast of war and death people are stopping to see the baby as it gives hope for a new beginning, so there will be a meaning to the lives of the people. Besides lighting, Caurón also uses different camera angles to help portray his idea of hope in the movie.
German Expressionism is a kind of art that is supposed to make you feel something. When you look at a painting such as “The Scream” by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), you ask yourself what kind of emotions does this painting give you. A group of early 20th century German artists used the term “expressionism” to desribe the way they produced art. The title later turned into “German Expressionism”. This art movement was prominent during 1905-1925. In German it is known as “Die Brucke” and “Der Blaue Reiter”. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression by the surrounding world, but to express the artists feelings on the surrounding world. Expressionism comes from the route word “expression” which