Cinematic City

Question 1

Mise-en-scène

Answer 1

everything within the frame

Question 2

Auteur theory

Answer 2

The director as the primary creative force

Question 3

Walter Ruttmann’s “Berlin: Symphony of a Great City” (1927)

Answer 3

• Pioneering work: One of the first major city symphony films
• Structure: Day-in-the-life format showing 24 hours in Berlin
• Montage innovation: Rhythmic editing that mimics musical composition
• Social commentary: Subtle critique of modern urban life

Question 4

notice any single element of mise-en-scène is also to notice an element of cinematography, since everything “put in” to a given shot is recorded by a camera

Answer 4

1. provides information
2. limiting border (geometrically or dynamically)
3. both separetes and unites elements (geometrical or dynamical)
4. implies a pov (a narrative)
5. frame includes and excludes (all out of frame)

Question 5

The essence of cities

Answer 5

“They consist of relativly large and densly packed groups of people into small pieces of territory”

Question 6

Characteristics of city life:

Answer 6

Feeding itself
Relative strangers
All classes
Ecological impact

Question 7

Cities are not simply material or lived spaces (K.Archer)

Answer 7

they are also spaces of the imagination and spaces of representation.

Question 8

relationship between the city and the imagination (K.Archer)

Answer 8

how the city affects the imagination and how the city is imagined

Question 9

The city as a product of imagination (K.Archer)

Answer 9

“Cities have always been imagined as well as lived in.”

Cities are both material and symbolic spaces—shaped by imagination and experience alike

Question 10

Max Weber Urbanization theory

Answer 10

Max Weber’s theory of urbanization suggests that cities are not just physical places but also products of larger social, economic, and political forces

emphasized that the development of urban communities is linked to factors like political autonomy, military defense, and the rise of a merchant class

Question 10

In Weimar cinema, Berlin was typically portrayed as

Answer 10

The epitome of modernity and urban life

Question 11

Walter Ruttmann’s “Berlin: Symphony of a Great City” (1927) is significant because it:

Answer 11

Pioneered the city symphony genre

Question 12

The Weimar Republic’s “city films” emerged during which time period?

Answer 12

1919-1933

Question 13

Andreas Mahler’s concept of “city scripts” refers to

Answer 13

The predetermined ways cities are experienced and interpreted

Question 14

The concept of the city as a “narrative construct” suggests that:

Answer 14

Urban spaces are structured and experienced through storytelling