M was a ____ film
German Expressionist
M setting and resulting pathology
dark cityscape, unstable environment, paranoid pathology
M based on
Real life child killer
M director
Fritz Lang
What is left out of M
Killing of victim, left to be imagined. IMPLIED
Police & criminals in M
Indistinguishable, both want killer dead
Killer in M
Beckert
How is Beckert found
criminals trap him in extensive network of spies
How does Beckert respond to being found
Breaks down uncontrollably and plays victim
M and sound + ex.
innovative use of sound (motif whistle phrase becomes more and more ominous)
Whistle phrase in M
Originally used to lure & eventually used to find Beckert out, his downfall
Magazine phrase that inspired M
“Murderer amoung us” quoted in film
M killer psycho actor
Peter Lorne’s portrayal sets film standard
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Dir.
Wiene
Dr. Caligari’s exhibition
Somnabolist @ fair
Romance in Dr. C
Love triangle
Mysterious stabbing of town clerk ______
incites confusion and action in Dr. C
What does Cesare predict?
Alan has “til dawn” to live
Who kills Alan
Cesare (unknown to viewer)
Who suspects Dr. C of murder?
Francis
Sets of Caligari
Contorted scenery & Bauhaus sets
Ambiguous ending of Dr. C
Ending w/ asylum & inmate… which is the murderer?
Nosferatu Dir.
Marnau
importance of nosferatu
earliest screen adaptation of dracula
Romance in nosferatu
love triangle between count orlok, ellen, and hutter
Nosferatu b&w?
Not fully, tints used
Orlok’s tastes in movie
primal sexual tastes for ellen (and possibly hutter)
Hero in noseferatu
Ellen sacrifices life to save community
Metropolis Director
Fritz Lang
Metropolis had monumental _______
production/themes addressed
Genre of Metropolis
Sci-Fi fantasy
What were audiences initially critical of in Metropolis?
socialist/communist aspects
Metropolis & time
Film too long for US & short cut made little sense
Audience best responded to (Metropolis)
Shocking visuals
REAL first sound film
Lights of NY (Not the Jazz Singer)
Why is Jazz Singer not first sound film
has several spots of silence
Transition to talkies results on careers
Some flourished some tanked
Who’s set looked like German Expressionist painting
Dr. Caligari
Nosferatu rights
Bram Stroker’s wife wouldnt give rights to Dracula
Special fx in Nosferatu (3)
Fast speed/reversal of shot/negative film
One of the last major silent productions
Metropolis
Metropolis introduced first image of _____ in cinema
robot
Metropolis is about ______ vs ________
Elite versus working class
Start of film Noir
M, Fritz Lang
Metropolis villian
mad scientist
Birth of psychology goes with birth of _______
films that deal with serial killers
M utilized
off-screen sound (i.e. children playing in beginning)
M debates b/w ____ & _____ of killer
guilt & mental illness
Building blocks that contribute to maturing of narrative form
Impact of German Expressionism & Advent of sound synch
What was so special about German Expressionism?
Element of psychology, power of atmosphere created (decor)
Who used 1st person style
German Expressionists
German expressionist’s emphasis on (Hint: French)
Mise-en-scene
German Expressionist art reflected
Fine Art
German Expressionist psych. often seeped in
Freud
2 German Expressionist roots
WWI loss & expressionist art
German expressionism opposite of
Impressionism (outward), expressionism looks inward
Dr. C expresses
social collapse & confusion of Germany
Why was German expressionism so accepted/popular?
It deals MOSTLY with human need to understand world around us + dealt with sense of misplacement
Why was German expressionism scarier than Universal monsters?
What’s INSIDE of us is the scariest thing
German expressionist “LOOK”
High contrast, eccentric/angled sets, dream-like haziness
German expressionist big hit
Golem: How he came into the world
Golem about
Hebrew clay monster
Unsuccessful German Expressionist film, why?
Vampyr b/c it was unorthodox
Now how is Vampyr seen?
Horror classic
Beginning talkies were ______, why?
awkward: dialogue reverted to static stagey convos/presentation due to recording limitations
Global talkies first huge in
US & India
How did Europe @ first feel about talkies
suspicious
How did talkies pick up in Japan
slowly
Talkies created ______ & ________
New jobs and new mechanisms on set
Major consequence of advent of sound
Industry wide panic, movie czars resising. MASSIVE $$$
Who survived transition to talkies?
Those who didn’t resist it
Early talky technical issue
STATIC & capturing sound
3 major struggles to get to SOUND film
sound synch, amplification, and recording fidelity
Combo of inventions to make new one
Kinetoscope+Zoopractiscope= Kinetophone
What happened to Kinetophone?
Failure due to projections
What did Jazz Singer do?
Commercially begin sound era
Western’s first sound film device
vitaphone
Issue w/ recording fidelity
poor sound unless subjects directly in front of camera
