Name at least 3 other films identified by critics as classic German Expressionist Films:

The Spiders (1919) by Fritz Lang

It is a German silent two-part adventure film. It was released in two parts in 1919 and 1920. Two more parts were originally planned but never made. It was believed to be a lost film, but it has been rediscovered and restored.

The Street (1923) by Karl Grune

The Street is a German silentdrama film. The movie follows two distinct plot lines until the two eventually merge: the first is that of the bored middle-aged man seeking a departure from monotony in his life; the second is that of the blind man and the little boy, his grandson, who are interdependent. None of the characters have been given names and are therefore referred to only by description.

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) by Fritz Lang

Die Nibelungen is a two-part series of silent fantasy films.

The title character Siegfried, masters the art of forging a sword at the shop of Mime. Siegfried hears the tales of the kingdom of Burgundy, the kings who rule there, as well as of Kriemhild, the princess of Burgundy. Siegfried announces he wants to win her hand in marriage.

Why has UFA managed to stay in business?:

UFA was a German motion-picture production company. It created outstanding and technically brilliant films during the silent era. Located in Berlin, its studios were the best equipped and most modern in the world. It encouraged experimentation and imaginative camera work.

UFA was established in 1917; Its purpose was to promote German culture and enhance Germany’s international image in the years following World War I.

In 1923 the studio acquired one of the world’s most extensive production facilities. This, however, overlapped with the increasing popularity in Germany of Hollywood films and resulted in financial crises that compelled the studio to produce mostly inexpensive documentary films for the next few years.

On the brink of financial ruin, the company was purchased in 1927 by Alfred Hugenberg, a future Hitler supporter who mandated that the company devote itself to films that promoted German nationalism. The resulting films proved popular in Germany, but rising production costs and a shrinking international market led to large deficits causing them to shut down. A new UFA was launched in 1956 but eventually went bankrupt.

Describe some of the stylistic conventions associated with the expressionist art movement. Post some additional examples of Expressionist Art:

Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist wants to depict not objective reality but the subjective emotions that objects or events cause within a person.

The artist does this through distortion, exaggeration, and fantasy and through the vivid, or dynamic application of elements.

Expressionism can be seen in Germanic and Nordic art particularly in times of change or spiritual crisis, as it is a way for artists to show their emotions or thoughts to the world around them.

Some examples of expressionist art include:

“This bent and sightless man holds close to him a large, round guitar. Its brown body represents the painting’s only shift in color. Both physically and symbolically, the instrument fills the space around the solitary figure, who seems oblivious to his blindness and poverty as he plays. At the time the painting was made, literature of the Symbolist movement included blind characters who possessed powers of inner vision. The thin, skeleton-like figure of the blind musician also has roots in art from Picasso’s native country, Spain. The old man’s elongated limbs and cramped, angular posture recall the figures of the great 16th-century artist El Greco.” – https://www.pablopicasso.org/old-guitarist.jsp

“Death and Fire suggests that abstraction and representation have been mutually accommodating, or otherwise complementary means of expression, since time immemorial.

Knowing that the end was near, Klee painted his own grimacing death mask without compassion. A silhouette moves forward from the background on the right, and in the foreground, dominating the work, a death’s head on top of a skeleton comes out of the earth, brandishing a golden ring with which it tries to catch the attention of the silhouette, which is going to go across the fire of life. But this is merely an interpretation; whereas the shock of the image hits one immediately. Using well-tried plastic means, Klee managed to transpose the ultimate human challenge into artistic form. Death’s face recalls the tormented features of a pastel self-portrait of the same year subtitled Hold Fasti.” – https://www.paulklee.net/death-and-fire.jsp

Why, in your view do you think Citizen Kane is regularly cited by critics as "The Greatest Movie Ever Made"?

Citizen Kane is believed to be “the greatest movie ever made” for countless reasons. These consist of the cinematography, editing and lighting techniques used in the film. One of the biggest reasons this film was so spectacular at the time and remains a significant part of film history is because Orson Welles created many techniques that were entirely new for that era of film and are still being used today. Since there were so many new things that had never been seen on screen, that was a massive part of why so many people wanted to watch this masterpiece.

The first reason this was a highly viewed film is because of its use of cinematography. One revolutionary shot that made the film stand out to critics was the scene of young Charles playing outside in the snow while his parents were discussing his new living situation. In this scene, a long continuous tracking shot was used to show the movement of the characters and allowed for an unbroken line of dialogue, giving a sense of realism to the movie, which was enticing for the audience. This took a lot of planning as they had to ensure that the blocking of the characters and props, such as the table, was not in the way of the camera. This scene also portrayed a deep focus allowing the audience, for the first time, to be able to choose where to look rather than the director telling them what to look at. This was similar to going to a play, which was an extraordinary thing to watch at the time.

the film, which was new to the film industry. Orson Welles did this to communicate the emotions and status of a character in a scene. For example, a low angle shows that Kane is an influential figure who looks down on others. This shows the bildungsroman genre as we see him grow from a frail child to someone who now has power and status.

Secondly, this is considered a fantastic film because of its lighting skills. Orson Welles frequently used cameo lighting. In fact, throughout the film, Welles uses lighting to give his settings dynamic gradients and compelling shadows. The dim and mysterious lighting played a massive role in authenticating Kane’s true egocentric and materialistic personality. Simply put, the high contrast light and dark style affect the scene’s composition. Chiaroscuro lighting is one way to create a three-dimensional quality on a two-dimensional plane, with the pools of darkness contrasting with pools of light.

Another reason why this movie is a part of the greats is because of its use of storytelling. Citizen Kane also uses a non-linear narrative structure. The film is told through the perspectives and memories of people in his life using flashbacks. This is another reason which adds to the film’s intrigue, as the audience is trying to piece together his life to figure out the big question “what/who is rosebud”.

Lastly, Citizen Kane’s editing created an excellent production. The film was the first to use “the wipe” editing technique. This editing technique is used continually to overlap the front pages of newspapers with Susan’s opera performances. This shows the passing of time and exposes the relationship between Kane and Susan, as it is evident that he is forcing her to do as many shows as humanly possible even though it’s not what she wants.

However, the most effective editing technique was used at the very beginning of the movie when the newsreel played. This is because it was typical of the time that it was filmed to have a newsreel before the movies. This establishes the time in which the movie is set and also intrigues the audience to learn about a character as though they are authentic, creating a sense of false reality and incising the audience even more.

In conclusion, Welles was a fantastic director. He took every aspect of a great film and created a Frankenstein of techniques to create the perfect movie possible.

Choose your favourite scene from the film and explain why this is the case. You should consider Welles’ use of microelements in your answer.

My favourite scene was when Mr Thomson visited Ms Alexander at El Rancho. This beginning scene sold me why most people declare this is the best movie ever made. This is because most directors and cinematographers weren’t willing to do complex transitions and camera movements such as those shown in this scene. Most directors in the 50s and 60s were stuck using hard swipes for transitions.

Some techniques used in this scene consist of a crane shot (high angles), which was uncommon at that time. This could be a reason why Citizen Kane is so loved. It gave a new viewing perspective that people in the audience had never seen before. Secondly, an over-the-shoulder shot was used, looking over Mr Thomson, giving the audience a direct view of Susan. This shot, again, was new to the time era.

Lastly, the use of chiaroscuro lighting was extraordinary. It was used only to light Ms Alexander, showing us a clear view of her emotions and making it clear that she is the one that holds the power of knowledge in this situation. Also, the lighting strikes create an eerie atmosphere placing the viewers in the scene with the characters.

Explain how the political, social and economic context of the Weimar Republic affected the production and content of classic German Expressionist Cinema:

Weimar Germany’s political and social instability, as well as its economic shortages, had a great impact on post-war German culture. Expressionism was most obvious in film. German cinema recovered quickly in the 1920s as people looked for cheap entertainment and escapism from reality.

Unable to afford the huge sets, ghastly costumes and props German film-makers looked for new ways to convey atmosphere, mood and emotion. As a consequence, German expressionism gave birth to two new cinematic genres: the Gothic horror movie and film noir.

Explain how the production context of Citizen Kane influenced the "look and feel" of the end production:

Citizen Kane was released on September 5, 1941. At this time, America was still healing from the consequences of The Great Depression, which began in 1933. At this time, 70% of people went to the cinema weekly as it provided a way to escape from reality and be encaptivated by the films they watched.

There were many technological breakthroughs in the film industry during this time. Coloured film was invented, as well as sound in films. However, Citizen Kane was still filmed in black and white as the colour was costly when the film was released. However, I believe that having the film in black and white was even more significant as it helped dramatises the use of lighting and shadows; it was also considered a film noir which was the most popular genre, which is a black and white film.

Citizen Kane’s use of lighting consisted of chiaroscuro and shadows. These techniques visualise the feelings of a character without needing dialogue. It gave the viewers a way to see how they were feeling, making the audience feel close and personal to the actors.

Orson Welles and Gregg Toland also created cinematography and editing styles that had never been seen on screen. One example of this was the use of Worms and Birds Eye View shots. This was uncommon as, at the time, it had ceilings, so camera gear such as microphones and lights would have been seen in the shots. This emphasises how amazing this movie was to audiences and other filmmakers. These angles were used to dramatise the movie’s look and to show a character’s presence to an audience (low angle shows Kane’s confidence while high angles show the vulnerability of a character).

Additionally, Citizen Kane uses long single shots and continues to create a life-like realness to the movie enhancing the viewer’s experiences as there are no distractions or cuts from the dialogue.

Lastly, Citizen Kane was the first film to the “wipe” in editing. This is where one shot is wiped off the screen to reveal the new shot. This was a captivating way to ensure the attention of the viewers was on the screen.

Furthermore, Citizen Kane is famous for using low-angle shots; therefore, the sets required ceilings. This was uncommon at the time as most movies didn’t have ceilings because that’s where lights and microphones were situated, so the ceilings in the movie were constructed of cloth to allow microphones to still be placed overhead. Welles also made a hole in the floor of the set to place the camera. The use of low angles dramatically affects the look and feel, enhancing Kanes confidence, dominance/superiority and his overwhelming power (over characters). 

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Key Light – The key light is the brightest light. Generally it is placed at a 45 degree angle.

Fill Light – The fill light is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. It should be positioned on the opposite side of the key light. The fill light should be dimmer then the key light.

Back Light – The back light is used to created a ring of light around the subject to create contrast. The backlight is positioned behind the subject.

Chiaroscuro Lighting -A high-contrast lighting technique. Chiaroscuro uses a low key lighting setup, where a key light is used as the sole light source to achieve dark backgrounds with starkly lit subjects.