German expressionism

Lumière brothers cinematography and dracula (Bram Stoker) connection

• Feb 21 1896: the first UK public film screening takes place at the Polytechnic Institute on Upper Regent Street near Oxford Circus

• May 26 1897: Dracula, written by the acting manager of the Lyceum theater in london, is published by constable & robinson (london)

expressionism and nazism

• sigfried kracauer’s from Caligari to Hitler. A Psychological history of the german film: expressionism as reflection of German mentality on the brick of madness obsessed with death and fatality and ready to encompass fascism

expressionism in cinema

• aesthetics

  • style stylized sets

  • distorted and strange buildings painted on canvas backdrops and flats in theatrical manner (studio-built sets)

  • actors exhibited jearky or dance-like movements

• mise-en-scene

  • in expressionist films, the expressivity associated with the human figure extends into every aspect of the mise-en-scene

  • juxtaposition of similar shapes within a composition

  • lighting stresses the links between figures and decor

  • chiaroscuro: influences on later films

  • editing and camerawork are functional and serve the mise-en-scene