Sunday 10 April 2016

Characteristics of German Expressionist Film


German Expressionism is a particular filmic style which emerged in Germany around 1912 to 1926. It has a short-lived but which is a significant theatrical movement. The aim of German Expressionism was to convey the force of human emotion and sexuality (Hayward, 2013, p.189). The German Expressionist movement was under influenced by the German’s defeat on World War l. After World War l, the downfall of economic and politic have made the people’s suffered poverty and chaos, therefore, artist used this film movement to express their feeling of trauma and desolation.
In contrast to French Impressionism, which based its style primarily on cinematography and editing, German Expressionism depended heavily on mise-en-scene (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p.470). The characteristics of German Expressionism which included chiaroscuro lighting, set design, unnatural acts, distorted bodies and shapes. By using set design and chiaroscuro lighting to express and depict the inner emotional reality and thoughts of the protagonist.
Ian Robert has stated that the low key lighting that produces a vivid chiaroscuro play of light and shadow is identified as the visual indication of a characteristic preoccupation with liminal spaces between reality and fantasy (Robert, 2008, p.132). Chiaroscuro lighting depicted extremely contrasts of light and dark, thus creating dramatic shadows (refer to figure 2.1). It reflect the dark aspect of human which also makes the tone of films seem gloomy. Besides, low-key lighting is often applied to somber, threatening and mysterious scenes. It brings the audiences into the dark story world.
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Figure 2.1-Chiaroscuro lighting has applied in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Mostly, the shadow often become the storyteller in the film who plays an important role in narrative. The way of narration is directness and frankness. In German Expressionism, the dramatic shadows is used to convey a paranoid sense of evil omnipresence which will create an ominous mood to the audience.
The German Expressionism film are full of bizarre and incongruous setting that are usually gothic in look and framing (Figure 2.2). Characters on the German Expressionism film usually wear heavy make-up such as pale complexion with smoky eyes and black lips. Furthermore, the actor’s movement and expression is very exaggerated and jerky. These characteristics give a sense of insanity and psychosis to the audience which also express the inner emotional reality.


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Figure 2.2- Gothic look in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Lastly, in German Expressionism, everything is abnormality and craziness. The characters are live in the world of malformation. Therefore, in these films, the shooting angle of camera is abnormal such as oblique angle, close-up shot, and bottom-up shot to distort the reality (Figure 2.3). Besides, the set designs in German Expressionism are deliberately distortion in architecture or geometric and distorted shapes and lines to create a warped perspective of the world (Figure 2.4). The props used in the film reflect the psychological mood of the sets.
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Figure 2.3- Close-up shot in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
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Figure 2.4- Distorted form in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

References
Hayward, S. (2013). Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge.
Roberts, I. (2008). German expressionist cinema: the world of light and shadow. London : Wallflower Press, 2008.

Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., & Ashton, J. (1997). Film art: An introduction(Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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