314 T1 #5 Silent film, German films
Terms
undefined, object
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- chaplin's comedy method
-
1. character-based comedy
2. the Tramp who is poor and ambitious
3. social awareness (reference to humble beginnings
4. static camera (proscenium) -
what is character based comedy
who used it who didnt -
comedy based around central character
chaplin (the tramp)
sennet (just random clowns) - chaplin's character? descrip
-
the tramp
- ambitious, thinks of himself as much more than a tramp
- drives and structures narrative with his ambitions -
why does chaplin use social awareness themes
what films are exampels -
humble beginnings
the immigrant (mirrors his own humble beginnings)
easy street - which of chaplin's films is basically his life story
- the immigrant
- the point of chaplin's film city lights clip shown?
- shows use of depth (composition in depth) as a gag
- in which of chaplin's films is depth the gag? how?
-
depth is gag, tramp can pretend to be appreciator of art
stepping back and forth to admire the nude - how did b keaton start?
- family in vaudeville
- keaton's comedy method
-
1. character based
2. character drives and structures narratve
3. fluid, mobile camera - keaton's character? descrip
-
"the great stone face"
wants the status quo to continue, little character pushed into chaotic world - diff between keaton + chaplin
-
chaplin: social awareness, proscenium
keaton: fluid, mobile camera; very cinematic - example of keaton's cinematics
- the general: being on the train moving
- what is the point of steamboat bill jr. clip
- showing the character is helpless ina calamitous world (jsut trying to return to the status quo)
- who did steamboat bill jr
- b keaton
-
why are there no more keatons and chaplins.
who is the closest to them today -
no vaudeville (training ground)
jackie chan - which 2 clips were compared between keaton + jackie chan
-
sherlock jr.
police story
same bill - what did jackie chan do when he got his own movies instead of stunting
- did bruce lee, except funny. like how sennett turned the chase into a gag
- how did jackie chan start
- acting school in Chinese Opera Research Institute, became a stuntman/choreographer
- what happened in hk cinema 1950s
- they had domestic market, selling to themselves, graduall started exporting
- what happened in hk cinema 1970s
- international distribution, kungfu films are international cinema
- how does hk cinema go back to silent slapstick?
-
1. series of stunts/gags
2. improvisational
3. undercranking trick - what is project a's significance
-
cites keaton and chaplin as influences
- bike stunts - who was dominant cinema before wwi
- france, england, italy, us, germany
-
who was dominant cinema after wwi
who was the biggest competition to this -
us (europe suffered)
germany - what was the german golden age question
- can subjective reality be represented by film?
- what was the ufa
-
german state-sponsored national studio
brought best filmmakers in europe together - what does ufa stand for
- universum film ag
- what were the types of ufa films?
-
- epics (historical ,mythological)
- expressionist
- street/reality based - what were epic films of ufa
- huge blockbusterish films of german myths
-
purpose of the clip madame dubarry
d.? -
purpose is to show the huge cast that they could do because people would do anything for a meal
Ernst Lubitsch - how did germany compete with us film after the war
-
- made films that hollywood couldn't or wouldn't make
(e.g. Madame Dubarry - use of the masses) -
purpose of the clip siegfried
d. -
the mythological films of ufa
fritz lang - from caligari to hitler?
-
kracauer's hypothesis: that a nation's film reveal its character.
mythological films reestablished national pride and identity (need to find who they were again because of German defeat in wwi & ii) - what did fritz lang direct
-
siegfried
m! - who was kracauer
-
wrote from caligari to hitler
- films tell you about nation's character
- mythological films remind you who you are (since the germans felt lost after the world wars) and reestablish national identity - what is impressionism
- artist's impression of the world
- what is expressionism
- expression of turbulent inner feelings
-
what type of film is the cabinet of dr caligari
how do you know -
german expressionism
- the countryside is warped, the insane asylum (office, lines on the fllor) -
what is the thing about the cabinet of dr. caligari
who wrote it -
erich pommer changed the end to not be critical of authority
- Janowitz & Mayer wrote it - what are some german expressionism films
-
- cabinet of dr. caligari (janowitz + mayer, pommer)
- nosferatu (murnau) - what is kammerspeilfilm
- one of the types of german films in the german golen age; stories of ordinary people
-
an example of a kammerspielfilm
d., d.p. - the last laugh, d. murnau, d.p. karl freund
- whats the thing about the last laugh
-
story of an ordinary guy who gets demoted at work (identity is taken away)
very cinematic (karl freund)
- the beginning: elevator, out the glass doors
- the shot that goes from the inside of the trumpet up the cable to an els - karl freund
-
d.p. the last laugh, took the camera anywhere!
"unchained camera"
shots: the beginning: on a bike out the revolving doors
: the trumpet going from ecu to els
subjective camera: POV (morning after in The Last Laugh), this is emotional - what is significant about the morning after in the last laugh
- subjective camera (question of the german golden age) - shows from the doorman's point of view the drunkenness (blurring the trumpet, drunken, exaggerated, idealistic dream)
- formal characteristics of the german golden age
-
expressionism!
- low key lighting (eg Nosferatu, M)
- Oppressive set design, that is commentary (distortion, massive architecture, cluttered set design) -
purpose of the metropolis clip
d. -
massive architecture makes the people insignificant
also the workers are eaten by the monster machine
fritz lang -
purpose of the destiny still
d. -
woman is dwarfed against the wall
fritz lang - examples of how architecture is used formally in german expressionism
-
destiny: woman dwarfed against huge wall
metropolis: tiny people v. big buildings - what does cluttered set decoration say
- character is confused and lost (morally & psychologically disoriented)
- 3 featuers of oppressive german set design
- distortion, massive architecture, cluttered set decorations
- example of cluttered set decoration
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the blue ange: clutter in the nightclub means emotional clutter in the character
M: cluttered toy store still - signif of The Blue Angel clip
- shows oppressive set design, of german expressionism, that it indicase internal turmoil in teh character (moral disorientation)
- what is the purpose of the cluttered toy store still in M
- shows that the character is internally disturbed or disoriented
-
what does the stair motif mean
where is it used -
lost characters that are suspended between 2 worlds
in M, where elsie is deemed missing - what are overarching themes of german golden age cinema
-
- ambivalence to authority (cabinet of dr. caligari)
- characters caught between good and evil (professor in blue angel)
- obsessed characters unable to control desires (M) - german golden age?
-
- low key lighting
- oppressive set design
- overarching themes (ambivalence to authority, caught between good and evil, the obsessed unable to repress desires)
- failure to control yourself (you need someone to tell you what to do) - what caused the end of the german golden age?
-
- financial problems
- rise of the nazis (control of media)
- talent drain (good for hollywood) - what was german golden age's impact on hollywood?
-
- talent left
- karl freund went there! (dracula, dr jekyll and mr hyde, the mammy)
- genre shaping films (the drama/mystery, science fiction, horror) - german golden age and mise-en-scene
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lighting
set design
art decoration
subjective camera
--> created emotions - modern example of how mise-en-scene creates internal states
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blade runner (futuristic planes)
stair motif