FILM ESSAY

Nosferatu - German expressionism

The film chosen in relation to German Expressionism is Nosferatu: Symphony of Horrors (1922) directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.
The film is a graphic adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. The plot is fairly similar to the novel, with some significant changes with regards to certain characters (as well as their names). Its genre is horror and durates for an hour.

Based in the 19^th century, the plot revolves around Count Orlok’s (Dracula) plot to leave the dangers of living in Transylvania and live off the living in Wisborg, a village in Germany (in contrast to London in the novel) and Thomas Hutter’s (Jonathan Harker) plan to save his love and the village.

Just to start, German expressionism is a movement in art, literature and media that developed due to the reaction of Germany’s younger generation against Germany’s bourgeois during the time period between 1920 and 1927. The style was unique as the work created involved  psychological, political, social as well as cultural responses. All this began when the German Expatriates including filmmakers moved to America between 1920’s and 30’s and there was a high influence on the style of filmmaking in Hollywood especially in the lighting effects.

In fact, the film Nosferatu is a key example of German expressionism. Lighting, music, character portrayal and setting all highlight the emotional aspects of this movement. Also, the narrative itself highlights a social issue that was a global health concern around the world: The Black Plague:

(Screenshot from the film, taken by Windows Media Player)

The Black Plague is portrayed in the film as Count Orlok’s effect on people, symbolized by the rats that follow him.

The music and character portrayal are both synced together to bring out the film’s emotions through the characters and the ongoing plot (the basic message of German Expressionism). Certain characters, such as Orlok, are emphasised by different instruments. Orlok’s case was done by shrill high notes played by organs.

The lighting and setting of the film is also synced as the contrasting black and white colours and locations with different shades and areas that were present in the times of Germany (such as the German salt storehouses in Lubeck, Germany). Murnau with the help of the scriptwriter, Henrik Galeen, wanted the film’s colours to also bring out the genre (horror) of the film, especially in suspenseful scenes. The framing of the characters also brings out the beauty of this form of Expressionism; the below picture shows Orlok’s shadow. Just the shadow’s position and posture emphasizes the horrifying and evil character of Orlok.

 (Screenshot from the film, taken by Windows Media Player)

There are some of point of views such as Close ups, Cut-Ins and Mid-shots which highlight different emotions as well as Long shots that set the scene. But most importantly the visual styles are cleverly manipulated in order to bring out the genre’s film. Night scenes, dark intense shadows on the walls, grotesque figures, deep focus camera shots and low-key lighting are all combined to create such a horror film. Another important aspect is the use of Chiaroscuro: the use of areas of light and darkness in a painting: (by Caravaggio) which clearly develops a bold contrast affecting the whole composition of the scene.

To Sum up, Nosferatu which is closely related to German expressionism, gives this horrifying taste through different aspects. As discussed above, there is a significant influence by the German filmmakers mainly on the Visual styles; the Chiaroscuro. Even if no one talks in the whole film, it is still a successive one and I believe that today's filmmakers will seek relative inspiration in order to build their own.

Bibliography:

Movie List on mubi.com. 2013. German Expressionism: The World of Light and Shadow. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://mubi.com/lists/german-expressionism-the-world-of-light-and-shadow>. [Accessed 18 December 2013].

Guides for the UMD community at University of Maryland Libraries. 2013. About German Expressionism - German Expressionism Collection. [ONLINE] Available at: <http://lib.guides.umd.edu/content.php?pid=231868&sid=1918114> [Accessed 18 December 2013].

Camera Shots. 2013. Camera Shots. [ONLINE] Available at:<http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/> [Accessed 18 December 2013].

IMDb. 2013. Nosferatu (1922). [ONLINE] Available at: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/?ref_=nv_sr_1> [Accessed 18 December 2013].

ART ESSAY

Cubism

In this essay, I am going to discuss Cubism, a revolutionary style of modern art which originated in Paris, 1907. Two of the main artists which contribute to this artistic movement are Picasso and Braque. I chose this particular movement since it is the key principal for other later movements such as Constructivism and Futurism. Cubism introduced a new way of seeing art making it more abstractive and focusing more on certain viewpoints rather than the whole scene.

So basically, there was a time in society where culture developed technology, cinematography, photography and factories were evolving very fast making it difficult for the artists like Picasso and Braque challenging to reflect on these modern aspects using the usual trusted tradition. Photography was also making it difficult for artists since taking a photo is a much more clear and fast illustration rather than painting the object/ scene itself. Nowadays, technology is so advanced that cameras are available in markets with reasonable prices and almost everyone owns a camera by now.

From the beginning of the Renaissance time period, there had been a target in art which incorporates perspective and the goal of any artist was to make the painting look three-dimensional and somehow close to reality. But due to the sophisticated technology and modernized society, Picasso and Braque had to adopt new ways of tackling their ideas making them more abstractive and flat (two-dimensional).

At a later stage, Paul Cezanne was influenced by Picasso and Braque’s paintings. He wasn’t actually focusing on the depth and the perspective of the drawing but tried to make the difference between painting and reality. So basically, what he did was flatted the space and emphasized more on the surface of the painting itself; the construction and the arrangements of colors he used.

 This is one of his Cubist painting which illustrates what has been discussed above

PAUL CÉZANNE (1839-1906)
'Bibemus Quarry', 1895 (oil on canvas)

Cubism- The first style of abstract art, 2013. Cubism. (online) Available at: < http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)

Furthermore, perspective was limitating the Cubist from getting beyond his imagination and paint what he really likes of the object. In fact, when you paint something from a single view point this limits the rest of the object which is invisible for you. But what the cubists wanted to introduce was the idea of relativity; how the artist perceives and selects elements from the subject, fusing both his observations and memories into the one concentrated image. To do this the Cubists examined the way that we see.

When you look at an object, your eyes start going up and down, sideways.. and you see some details that interest you more than the rest of the other features in the object. Even today, when someone observes a painting maybe in an exhibition he won’t just see from one single view point but will judge it from every angle and side of it. Therefore, the Cubists proposed that your sight of an object is the sum of many different views and your memory of an object is not constructed from one angle, such as perspective, but from many angles selected by your sight and movement. A typical cubist painting will show you a real object but not from a single view point. It will show you some parts combined with different angles and reconstructed into a composition of planes, forms and colours. The idea of space is reconfigured and the views become interchangeable elements in the design of the painting.

Cubists were also reflecting on different types of cultures (apart from their own) they found inspiration particularly from African culture. They were not interested in their religion but only influenced from their expressive style was essential for them.

 LEFT: Pablo Picasso, 'Head of a Woman', 1907 (oil on canvas)

RIGHT: Dan Mask from West Africa

Cubism- The first style of abstract art, 2013. Cubism. (online) Available at: < http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)

At around 1912 Picasso and Braque’s paintings were becoming predictable and very abstractive. So Picasso to break this chain of constancy began to make his art less abstractive and by gluing printed images (collage making) from the ‘real world’  he revitalized the style and pulled it back from total abstraction.

To sum up, Cubism was split in Analytical Cubism (1907-1912); painting objects seeing them through different viewpoints and mashing them up, and Synthetic Cubism (1912 onwards) which is less abstractive and more freehand.  When Cubism spread in Europe there emerged other movements such as Expressionism. All in all, Cubism ignores the traditions of perspective drawing and shows you many views of a subject at one time.

Bibliography:

Cubism- The first style of abstract art, 2013. Cubism. (online) Available at: < http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/cubism.htm>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)

DESIGN ESSAY

Constructivism

I’m going to discuss Constructivism which particularly interested me most because there is a significant relation to architecture and this embraces mostly creativity. Also, one can say that this design movement has effected mostly our buildings and the way we express ourselves especially when it comes to abstractive ideas. By this time, designers and architects have cultivated their own ideas and meanwhile were influenced from that time period where constructivist art was at its peek.

Constructivist architecture is a form of modern architecture and knows its origin from Russia in early 1919 the time when the constructivist were creating new mass production techniques and where changing society from an agricultural one to make it more industrialized. Also graphic design, film making, and photography evolved to a higher stage while machines and tools were being enhanced due to the progressive technological visions.

The principles of constructivism came from Suprematism (art and design which is completely innovative and does not depend on older influences), Newo Plasticism and Bauhaus. If we can point out some elements of constructivist architecture we can mention the geometrical shapes such as cylinders, cubes and other forms with straight lines.

The Constructivist visual style of clean lines, pure shapes, flat colours and formal order is still instantly recognisable in design today. It was transmitted by way of the Bauhaus and the New Typographers of Weimar Germany to the Swiss designers of the 1950s and 1960s, who developed the International Style that continues to set the parameters for much contemporary design: witness for example the current trend for flat design amongst digital designers.

An example of such architecture

Russia- Ukraine-Travel, 2010. Russian Architecture. (online) Avaliable at: <http://www.russia-ukraine-travel.com/russian-and-ukrainian-architecture.html>

(Accessed 16 December 2013)                      

In fact, the reason why I chose to focus particularly on architecture because apart from which the subject interests me for my future work and inspirations, it also gives the building a character or maybe an identity. This can be shown by how large and solid the building looks, how lines were joined precisely and how windows are manipulated to make the building more appealing for the public and hence eye catching. These features may also help me reflect more about the visual product while getting some ideas and reduce them in a simple and possible way.

Ricky’s Memoris, n.d. Mid valley tower. (online) Available at: <http://rickycarter93.blogspot.com/2013/08/mid-valley-tower.html>

(Accessed 16 December2013)

Constructivist architecture had introduced a strange new alien dimension to Russia's ancient skylines. Howerver in 1924, when John Lenin died, it was Stalin’s time to rise upon him and he insisted that all future design should abide by the conservative neoclassical style of Socialist Realism.

Nowadays, architects and designers are still being influenced from previous Constructivist aesthetic values and by acknowledging the fundamentals of architecture they work to come up with such stylish buildings such as the Mid Valley Tower, 60-storey office tower, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Taking everything into account, Constructivism has effected cultural developments even though if it lasted for only about five years, it led to a new perspective and changed ways of approaching abstractive ideas in order to make it 3D but still physically possible. I believe that architecture did evolve through constructivism but yet there are still many designs and styles to discover in order to build for a more realistic environment.

Bibliography:

Creative Bloq, n.d. The easy guide to design movements: Constructivism. (online) Available at: <http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/easy-guide-design-movements-constructivism-10134843>  (Accessed 16 December 2013)

                                                                                       

Word of Level Design, 2009. Constructivist Architecture. (online) Available at: <http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/architecture/constructivist_architecture/constructivist_architecture.php> (Accessed 16 December 2013)