COM 320, History of Film German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, and French Impressionism Compared German Expressionism Soviet

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COM 320, History of Film German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, and French Impressionism Compared German Expressionism Soviet COM 320, History of Film German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, and French Impressionism Compared German Expressionism Soviet Montage French Impressionism Era 1919-1927 1917-1933 1918-1929 Defining ►”Goal to express feelings in the ►”Montage. as a collision of elements. ►”Goal to convey sensations and Characteristics most direct and extreme fashion imitated the Marxist concept of the dialectic emotional ‘impressions’. conveying possible. extreme distortion to . .’intellectual cinema’ attempts not to tell the personal vision of the artist. express an inner emotional reality a story but to convey abstract ideas, as. cinema shows us the souls of people rather than surface appearances”; a political tract might” and the essence of objects (photogenie) Prawer (in book--Caligari’s . Cinema is a synthesis of the other Children) raises the possibility that arts” (architecture, painting, sculpture, this distortion is quite “real”--e.g., music, poetry, dance) Caligari sees aspects of the world not readily apparent to others. Form & Style ►Mise en scene most important ►Editing most important ►Camera work most important ►Narrative structure--legends, the ►Narrative structure--social forces ►Narrative structure--personal actions supernatural, horror (but psych.) ►Large number of shots and psychology ►Distortion, stylization of sets, ►”Kuleshov effect” of juxtaposed shots ►Photogenie--”that quality which costumes, makeup, acting, lighting ►Maximization of dynamic tension through distinguishes a film shot from the ►High contrast (in film, B&W; in two opposing editing techniques--(1) over original object photographed” the other arts, with colors) lapping and (2) elliptical (i.e., jump cut) ►Optical devices often used to do this ►Entirely studio-made (control!) editing ►”Visual rhythm” of fast cutting ►Non-diegetic inserts ►Location shooting Background ►In a commercial film context ►In a commercial film context ►In a commercial film context ►Growth fostered by inflation/ ►However, commercial success ►French film in crisis after WWI reparations that favored export was secondary to serving the ►France swamped with German of products including film, import national interest; a national cinema & U.S. films ban 1916-20 ►Artistically, derived from Constructivism, ►Small French companies willing ►Artistically, part of movement viewing artwork as machine; montage; to experiment begun about 1908 no elite art ►During the Weimar Period ►The development of a national cinema-- ►The origins of a national cinema the State Film School in 1919; under control --UFA of Narkompros (People’s Commissariat of Education) German Expressionism, Soviet Montage, and French Impressionism Compared, p. 2 German Expressionism Soviet Montage French Impressionism Other Film Types ►Historical spectacles (e.g., Ernst ►Very few domestic alternatives ►Genre: Fantasy (e.g., Rene Clair), in that Nation at Lubitsch’s Madame du Barry) ►Surprising importance of imports (e.g., Comedy (e.g., Max Linder) that time ►Kammerspiel (e.g., F.W. Murnau’s Thief of Bagdad ran for years) Last Laugh) Importance ►Widespread impact, due to ►Although Potemkin seen around the world, ►Influential in style, not very of Movement Germany’s status as #2 filmmaking main impact later, and certainly limited to important in terms of $$ nation 1918-1933 style (content not widely imitated) Important ►Robert Wiene (Cabinet of Dr. ►Lev Kuleshov & his workshop ►Abel Gance (Napoleon, La Roue) Practitioners Caligari) ►Sergei Eisenstein (Potemkin, Strike) ►Jean Epstein (Coeur fidele) ►Fritz Lang (Die Niebelungen ►Vsevolod Pudovkin (Mother) ►Marcel L’Herbier (El Dorado) (inc. Siegfried), Metropolis) ►Dziga Vertov (Man with the Movie ►Germaine Dulac (The Smiling ►F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Faust) Camera) Madame Beudet) ►Alexander Dovzhenko (Arsenal, Earth) ►Jean Renoir (late; The Little Match ►Kuleshov, Eisenstein and Vertov Girl) were film writers and teachers as well. ►A tight group, they also wrote theory The Death of the ►Displaced artistically by new ►Soviet Montage called “formalism,” too ►The movement’s own success led to a Movement realism, e.g., “street films” (Pabst) complex for the masses (Stalin) diffusion of its techniques, and a ►Prominent German Expressionism ►1929 5-year plan called for centralization lessening of its impact directors and performers lured of film, control taken away from ►F.I. filmmakers lost their independence away to Hollywood (inc. Narkompros (Stalin again) with the introduction of sound ($) Parufamet agreement) Current ►The Style!! (most of Tim Burton’s ►Editing!! (elliptical cutting in The Usual ►Subjectivity, especially in “indie” Influences and films, other “goth” and dark- Suspects, Rocky Horror; overlapping films (e.g., films of Gus Van Sant) Applications? looking productions) editing in Braveheart, Babe; non-diagetic inserts in My Own Private Idaho; examples are everywhere) 9/16 .
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