Review

Buster Keaton

1. Why does he keep a serious face?

He keeps a serious face because it was more funny and he learn that as a young child acting with his parent.

2. Why is he like Chaplin? He does things on accident and he is always the little guy in the movies, just like Chaplin.

1. How does he perform his stunts?

He really performed all his stunts without the help of special effects and film techniques.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

1. What is the significance of the set design?

The set design reflected the character's set of mind as well as giving the feeling of eeriness and despair. The jagged edges of the buildings and the odd and bizarre angles all reflect Francis's self- disfiguration.

1. What was different from German Expressionism acting than from Hollywood?

German Expressionism delved in more human emotions, thus the acting was more realistic.

1. How does lighting set the mood in the film?

Dr. Caligari used the contrast between light and dark effect called chiaroscuro. This enables the feeling of mystery, somber, and fear. There are overcasting shadows, especially whenever Dr. Caligari is in a scene, that shows a sense of surrealism- like a nightmare.

Modern Times

1. Why did Charlie Chaplin base his movie Modern Times on the Great Depression?

To show people even through hard times, you can still make it work and live life happily and have fun.

Eisenstein

1. What other important movie did Eisenstein direct? (Look on the wiki)

October: Ten Days That Shook the World

1. How does Eisenstein use the film to develop his theories of film structure?

He uses the film to further develop his theories of film to develop his theories of film structure by using a concept he described as "intellectual montage".
The Last Laugh

1. Why did Murnau decide to use German Expressionism to this film?

because the time it came out before the first world war and everything. Also this was one of the movies at the time that German Expressionism came out of.

1. Why was the movie made silent?

because during the German Expressionism time many movies like Metropolis and The Cabinet of Dr Caliagari they expressed what they had to say with silent film

1. What type of lighting did they use?

Well there was some German Expressionism Characteristics like using Shadow when the former Hotel door man speaks. Also the anger when he lost his job they put some shots of the suitcase he had. Also when it showed some chiaroscuro lighting when he was just standing still gazing.

Metropolis

1. True or False-Freder was in love with both "Robot Maria" and "Maria"?
False
2. Fill in Blank:(Blank) trades places with one of the workers for a day?
Freder

3.True or False-One of the villains in the movie was named "Rotwang"?
false
4. Why did Rotwang originally create his robot?
To make it look like Hellen.

5. Who did Rotwang change the robot to look like?
He changed it to look like Maria.
6. Who did Joh Fredersen send to spy on his son.
The Thin Man.

Research on Metropolis and Modern Times

In order to deepen your analysis of the films Metropolis and Modern Times and to improve your essay, we are going to start doing research on the films.

Go to these links:

Wiki on Modern Times

Wiki on Metropolis

Ebert on Modern Times

Ebert on Metropolis

Skim the information about the movies. Cut and paste some interesting quotes into a blog. Make sure you record the web address where you found the information above the information. Find at least 10 quotes.

-"The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in Chaplin's view, by the efficiencies of modern industrialization."

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(film)

-"A lot of movies are said to be timeless, but somehow in their immortality they fail to draw audiences. They lead a sort of half-life in film society revivals, and turn up every now and then on the late show."

-"They're classics, everyone agrees, but that word "classic" has become terribly cheap in relation to movies. It's applied so promiscuously that by now the only thing you can be sure of about a "film classic" is that it isn't actually in current release."

-"The millions of followers and fans who cheered him in his Little Tramp days are now mostly a memory; if 85 per cent of the American movie audience is under 35, as industry statistics claim, then 85 per cent of Charlie's original audience must probably be over 35."

-"So his decision to release a series of his best films must have sometimes seemed like a risk. His name is enshrined among the greatest geniuses of film; the French have a movie magazine titled simply Charlie, and Vachel Lindsay said a long time ago, "The cinema IS Chaplin." He had proven his greatness in every possible way; but then, at 81, he decided to put some of his films on the market again and see how they fared."

-http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720125/REVIEWS/201250301/1023

-"Metropolis is a 1927 silent German expressionism science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and Thea von Harbou. Lang and von Harbou, who were married, wrote the screenplay in 1924, and published a novelization in 1926, before the film was released."

-"Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolisdystopia and examines a common science fiction theme of the day: the social crisis between workers and owners in capitalism."

-"Metropolis was produced in the Babelsberg Studios by Universum Film A.G.1927. The most expensive film of its time, it cost approximately 7 million Reichsmark to make."

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(film)

-"Generally considered the first great science-fiction film, ``Metropolis'' (1926) fixed for the rest of the century the image of a futuristic city as a hell of scientific progress and human despair."

-"From this film, in various ways, descended not only ``Dark City'' but ``Blade Runner,'' ``The Fifth Element,'' ``Alphaville,'' ``Escape From L.A.,'' ``Gattaca,'' and Batman's Gotham City. The laboratory of its evil genius, Rotwang, created the visual look of mad scientists for decades to come, especially after it was mirrored in ``Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935). And the device of the ``false Maria,'' the robot who looks like a human being, inspired the ``Replicants'' of ``Blade Runner.''"

-"``Metropolis'' employed vast sets, 25,000 extras and astonishing special effects to create two worlds: the great city of Metropolis, with its stadiums, skyscrapers and expressways in the sky, and the subterranean workers' city, where the clock face shows 10 hours to cram another day into the workweek."

-http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980328/REVIEWS08/401010341/1023
is set in a futuristic urban (UFA) and released in

Star Wars and D.W. Griffith

Watch the opening sequence of Star Wars. What film techniques does George Lucas use? How does this compare with D.W. Griffith?
-Close up of the ship
-Long shots
-Going back and forth from one character to the next

In both of these films, it shows us close ups, then the persons face, such as in Birth of a nation, it shows the gun in a close up, then it's a shot of the mans face with the gun.

Comedy

To be honest, I think people in general are funny. Everyday people doing everyday things really amuse me. From a simple joke, or facial expression, it doesn't have to be a movie. But I love watching funny movies, but they can't be stupid movies , like I don't like stupid comedies, such as American Pie, Herald and Kumar, stuff like that is just dumb to me. But I really enjoy Superbad! I mean it's not all appropriate, but it is hands down hilarious!!!

Favorite Movie In the last month

What's your favorite movie from the last month? What kind of lighting did it use? Compare/Contrast it with German Expressionism. Did it use chiaroscuro lighting? What were the sets like? Did it film on location? What was the acting like?

The Time Traveler's wife would have to be my favorite film in the last month. I fell in love with all the characters and the story the way it was portrayed was so nice., This is the most depressing, love, romance movie I have ever seen. It's such a great movie it will leave everyone in tears. It's too cute! There was mostly lighter lighting when it was happy times in the movie, and darker lighting for the sadder signs of the movie. The sets were mostly outside in the city and in homes, not like German Expressionism, where the sets are darker and have a deeper meaning in the film.

Science Fiction

What are some Science Fiction movies you have seen? What are some characteristics of the genre? For example, you might have seen a movie set in space.
Some Science fiction movies that i have seen, are:

-Alien
-Star wars
-Running Man
-Minority Report
-Men in black
-Resident Evil
-Star ship troopers

Mostly all the settings of these movies were in space, or some other planet other than earth. All movies in general, show us scenarios and events that are just really impossible. These movies show futuristic ideas.

German Expressionism

Read the section in Chapter 4 about films from 1920s Germany. Read the information there about

German Expressionism.What is German Expressionism? What are some of the famous films?

German expressionism is the style that germans felt should be expressed when using film. They used black and white to express color contrast to catch your eye. In German expressionism, you see various things from one extreme to the other. From the sets, to the contrasting colors, to the opposite characters. Some famous films during this time, are The cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis and Pandora's box.