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2011
Joey Ku
Unit 2: Space-A Journey to
the Centre of the Earth- b
Jules Verne
11/25/2011
Unit 2: Space
Essay Assignment-Analyzing the production design and visual concept of
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
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Contents:
Introduction: 3
Main Body: 4
Conclusion 7
List of Illiustrations 7
Bibliography 8
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Main Body:
The most striking features of the film is the German
Expressionism used with its distorted settings, dark
extreme shapes and distorted building that creates the
surrealist illusion of the real world. The whole idea ofGerman Expressionism was to have an art movement
that formed before the First World War which the style is
of an exaggerated representation of reality through the
use of emotions. It is also advancing the theory that
every component of a movie--the photography, scenery,
lighting, costuming and acting--should be intentionally
stylized and even wildly exaggerated in order to achieve a
unified emotional impact. (Kinnard, 1995). The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligaricontrasts the purpose of bringing new
things into the world and instead introduces GermanExpressionism in its purest and extreme form using these advanced elements in creating a
characters world.
Having a film set in the style of German Expressionism not only because of its art movement at
the time, but Wiene wanted his film transformed into a conformist film. This theory is based on
Kracauers theory that German films reflect the mentality of the German people. (Jung and
Schatzberg, 1999: 53). Therefore reflecting this theory into a world set from a mad mans view
of reality.
Ashlin, a critic reviewer on The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari/Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari describes
the set of the film, Dimensionality is compressed,
leaving theoretically solid and massive objects looking
instead like the stage flats they are. Perspectives are
all wrong, too, with houses, tents, streets, and
especially the carousel at the fairground tilted at
impossible angles. (Ashlin, 2011). The whole sets
and props in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari are obvious
that it is painted onto sheets as art director Hermann
Warm had started with the idea and the looks of a
low budget stage play but had it stylized with dark
sharp shadows painted onto them and are made to look abstract that even furniture, props,
buildings and streets arent in proper scale even with the actors moving around them , which
may have been a challenge for the three designers.
For the three designers to be able to come up with the design idea for the set the only hint given
in their script was, a fantastic, graphic design turned away from the real. The images had to be
Figure 1: uneven roads, exaggerated and
distorted shadows gives a surreal look of
its world
Figure 2: The use of contrasts between light
and dark creating silhouettes and shadows.
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Figure 4: using the German Expressionism elements, Burton has
created a nightmarish Halloween town
visionary, nightmarish (Scheunemann, 1990:137), this was initially at first designed in the style
of Alfred Kubins eerie graphic works, Edvard Munch and Max Reinhardt but was later dropped
and Riemann signed to the role as he was an expressionist painter in theater sets in 1916.
Apart from making the setting look abstract,
neo-romantic and gothic, it is also made tolook like a distorted surreal world in the mind
of a madman from the film. Warm, Riemann
and Rhrigs works on the background design
comprised of sharp edged shapes, straight,
curved lines and uneven ninety degree angles,
which had brought on the idea of creating an
expressionistic setting after reading the script.
The strong but high contrast of black and
white along with shades of grey are used for
exaggeration to depict the outcasts and
terror, Gray and white are employed not to create the illusion of a color palette but to envision
confided and hard edged dimensions and shadows. (LoBrutto, 2005: 63).The chiaroscuro effect
is created using strong lighting and extreme heavy shadows and is also achieved by using heavy
paint strokes. The use of this creates a different perspective and causes a specific psychic
reaction in the spectator (Scheunemann, 1990: 136) the use of distorted shapes and lines
creates tension, anxiety and terror as it reflects on the events that are about to unfold in the
film. The purpose of this style imported onto the film is to strengthen the films emotional
impact of a gloomy tale as well as introducing this style in a film so that it can be accepted as an
art form.
The Cabinet of Dr Caligaris
success in terms of design has
influenced many other
filmmakers such as Fritz Langs
Metropolis (1927) and most
notably, Tim Burton. Burton, a
visionary director whos famous
works consists of gothic, mad
world in the style of German
Expressionism. This is evident in
his films in particular, Edward
Scissorhands (1990) and The
Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993) with strong vibrant
contrasting colours, grotesque lighting and distorted settings that have no right angles.
Figure 3: uneven shapes and angles giving a surrealist view of a
madman
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The design in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
is reminiscent to design ofThe Cabinet of Dr Caligari,
in particular The Halloween Town which consists of
low key lighting, contrasting colours of light and dark,
and curved shapes like the famous spiral cliff. The
animated set idea was to create a world that is
emotionally dark and uses a dark color palette, with
the buildings sculpted with the narrow bases and
wide tops, giving it a mystical dark look. Though
using German Expressionism, Burton enhanced this
by having most of the characters in the film not have any eyes but dark hollow holes in its place.
As described by Burton, The characters that were signed for Nightmare had the added burden
of not having any eyeballs. The first rule of animation: Eyes for expression. I thought if we could
give life to these characters that have no eyes, it would be great. (Burton, 1990: 116). The idea
design for the film were based on the feelings for as what Burton calls it, Rudolph things but
with a twist of dark gothic art, which also leads to the stylization of German Expressionism.
Very much like The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari, as said by Matt Stopera,
Johnny Depp's inspiration for
Edward Scissorhands was the classic
movie Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari
(Stopera, 2010) including the
character looks, with the protagonist
acting as an outsider or a monster
dressed in black with dark hair, pale
face and heavy makeup, a female
character dressed in white to represent the fragile and innocent, similar to the likes ofThe
Beauty and the Beast. A live action movie, the film focuses on the contrasts of vibrant pastel
colours of American suburban towns to a dark, gothic mansion set on top of a high hill
reminiscent to the house on the hill in Psycho (1960). The pastel colour scheme used in the town,
conveys the emotions and the feeling of unstableness of behavior among its residents. Burton
casts a kind of unease in his candy-colored suburb, where the tension is visually unmasked
through Edward and his gothic castle perched above the houses. Burton subverts the Caligari
nightmare with his own narrative branding, casting the garish somnambulist as the hero, and
the villagers as the villains. (McLaughlin, 2000) Adding Edward into this makes it obvious that
Edward is out of place due to his dark gothic clothing. Though the interior look of the mansion is
dark, it is filled with distorted windows that have hard lighting through with silhouettes and a
long distorted winding staircase that leads to a small door at the top, gives the feeling that
everythings not normal. However, in contrast to this, the exterior of the mansion shows the
true inner side of the protagonist with vibrant flowers and beautifully cut bushes in different
shapes and of gentle animals like deer etc.
Figure 5: The curved hill
Figure 6: The pastel coloured town with the dark mansion on the hill in
the middle
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Conclusion:
It is noticeable that in Wienes The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligaricontains the elements of German
Expressionism, there were theories behind the
making of this and how it is interpreted into a filmso that the art style of it can be accepted. Kraceur
theorizes that Wienes use of the film into German
Expressionism reverts back to the time of the
Weimar era and that German citizens needed a
tyrant to look up on as well as having German films reflecting the emotions and feelings that
were happening in Germany. With its contrasting colours of white and black along with
distorted shapes and angles, this went on to inspire Tim Burton to recreate this style and The
Beauty and The Beastas well as the elements of sharp lighting, curved settings etc. Burton
mixing this style with dark gothic art together has successfully made films both in live action and
animation like Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas and thus has inspiredother filmmakers as well as creating more films based on this style.
List of Illustrations:
Fig 1: Lowry, M and Dinot, C (2009) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)(online):
http://malcolmlowryatthe19thhole.blogspot.com/2009/09/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920.html-
(accessed on 20/11/11)
Fig 2: Wiene, R (2010) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) (online):
http://filmmakeriq.com/2010/08/ultimate-filmmakers-guide-to-film-noir/- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Fig 3: Kolar, German Expressionism: The world of light and shadow(online):
http://mubi.com/lists/german-expressionism-the-world-of-light-and-shadow- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Fig 4: Wiene, R (1920) Halloween Town (online):
http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Halloween_Town- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Fig 5: Powers, G (2008) The Nightmare Before Christmas (online):
http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/nightmare-before-christmas-the.html- (accessed on
20/11/11)
Fig 6: Morgan, R (2011) 110-130 (online):
http://rionalovesthevirginsuicides.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Figure 7: Dark mansion on a hill with vibrant greenery
http://malcolmlowryatthe19thhole.blogspot.com/2009/09/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920.htmlhttp://malcolmlowryatthe19thhole.blogspot.com/2009/09/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920.htmlhttp://filmmakeriq.com/2010/08/ultimate-filmmakers-guide-to-film-noir/http://filmmakeriq.com/2010/08/ultimate-filmmakers-guide-to-film-noir/http://mubi.com/lists/german-expressionism-the-world-of-light-and-shadowhttp://mubi.com/lists/german-expressionism-the-world-of-light-and-shadowhttp://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Halloween_Townhttp://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Halloween_Townhttp://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/nightmare-before-christmas-the.htmlhttp://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/nightmare-before-christmas-the.htmlhttp://rionalovesthevirginsuicides.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.htmlhttp://rionalovesthevirginsuicides.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.htmlhttp://rionalovesthevirginsuicides.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.htmlhttp://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/nightmare-before-christmas-the.htmlhttp://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Halloween_Townhttp://mubi.com/lists/german-expressionism-the-world-of-light-and-shadowhttp://filmmakeriq.com/2010/08/ultimate-filmmakers-guide-to-film-noir/http://malcolmlowryatthe19thhole.blogspot.com/2009/09/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920.html -
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Fig 7: Burton, T (1990) Edward Scissorhands (1990) (online):
http://www.hdwarez.com/edward-scissorhands-1990.html- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Bibliography:
Provart, M (2008) The Lean Forward Moment: Production Design (online):
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Eggleston, W. (2008) The Lean Forward Moment: Production Design (online):
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546- (accessed on 20/11/11)
Crossley, L (Unknown) What is Visual design?(online):
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5873013_visual-design_.html- (accessed on 20/11/11)
KINNARD, R (1995) Horror in Silent Films (online):
http://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/caligari.html - (accessed on 18/11/11)
Jung, U. Schatzberg, W (1999) Beyond Caligari: the films of Robert Wiene. Oxford: Berghahn Books-
(accessed on 18/11/11)
Ashlin, S (2011) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari/Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (1919/1921) (online):
http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/cabinetofdrcaligari.htm - (accessed on
18/11/11)
LoBrutto, V.(2005) Becoming Film literate: the art and craft of motion pictures.USA,Praeger
Publsihers - (accessed on 18/11/11)
Scheunemann, D. (2006) Expressionist film--new perspective (2nd
Ed) USA: Camden House - (accessed
on 18/11/11)
Burton, T. Salisbury, M. Depp, J (2006) Burton on Burton (2nd
Ed) London: Faber and Faber Limited-
(accessed on 18/11/11)
Stopera, M (2010)12 Things You Probably Didnt Know About The Movie Edward Scissorhands
(online):
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/12-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-edward-sc- (accessed
on 18/11/11)
McLaughlin, N (2000) German Expressionism- 1910 to 1940s Germany(online):
http://virtualology.com/hallofartmovements/germanexpressionism.org/(accessed on 22/11/11)
http://www.hdwarez.com/edward-scissorhands-1990.htmlhttp://www.hdwarez.com/edward-scissorhands-1990.htmlhttp://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546http://www.ehow.com/facts_5873013_visual-design_.htmlhttp://www.ehow.com/facts_5873013_visual-design_.htmlhttp://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/caligari.htmlhttp://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/caligari.htmlhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/cabinetofdrcaligari.htmhttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/cabinetofdrcaligari.htmhttp://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/12-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-edward-schttp://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/12-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-edward-schttp://virtualology.com/hallofartmovements/germanexpressionism.org/http://virtualology.com/hallofartmovements/germanexpressionism.org/http://virtualology.com/hallofartmovements/germanexpressionism.org/http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/12-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-edward-schttp://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/cabinetofdrcaligari.htmhttp://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/caligari.htmlhttp://www.ehow.com/facts_5873013_visual-design_.htmlhttp://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1317546http://www.hdwarez.com/edward-scissorhands-1990.html
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