GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM • Artistic genre consisting of creative movements started with art, painting and architecture rejecting naturalistic action of objective reality • Number of Artist working in Berlin theatre brought expressionist visual style to design of film sets and to new medium of cinema which reached its peak in 1920’s • During WW1 In 1916, government banned foreign films &demands to generate films lead to increase in domestic film production( from 24 films in 1914 to 130 films in 1918) • Themes of expressionist films often dealt with madness, cruelty, betrayal triggered by experiences of world war 1 as opposed to standard action adventure and romantic films • Two genres i.e. horror and film Noir were heavily influenced by Expressionism • Expressionism films came to an end in late 1930’s with political barriers and forced ban due to rise of Nazis in Germany • Many Expressionist went into Exile in United States and influenced Hollywood with their styles • Robert wines with The cabinet of Dr.Caligar and F.W. Murnau with Nosferatu, Fritz Lang with Dr. Mabuse the gambler & Metropolis are some Renewed Directors from Expressionist era CHARACTERISTICS: • Subjective emotional world rather than objective reality • Distortions of Body or objects for emotional effects • Exaggerated on screen performance and theatrical actor movements • Exaggerated Gothic makeup of characters to reflect inner psychology of characters • Dark, gloomy artificial sets with sharp, angular and irregular shapes brings out fear and imbalance of the world • Use of Chiaroscuro effect (use of low-key and high contrast lightening to create light and dark areas in films • Use of Dramatic shadows • Legacy of German Expressionism still lives in Modern Hollywood in works of Tim Burton and many other directors with striking similarities of Expressionist films • His use of Chiaroscuro effect, dramatic shadows, Dark sets with angular & irregular shape, gothic makeup of characters in his movies such as “Batman returns”(1992), “Sweeny Todd” and one of Animated films “Nightmare Before Christmas” reflect expressionism era THANKYOU
