Component 2c: Silent Cinema – Essay

To what extent can it be said that your chosen film movement represents an expressionist as opposed to a realist approach to filmmaking? Make detailed reference to examples from the silent film or films you have studied. [20]

Plan:

INTRODUCTION:

Talk about the rise of cinema in the early 20th century:

• Tech came around in 1895 at about 8 fps
• Developed rapidly in parallel around the world but in different ways, fps gets to about 15
• Started as a novelty but became something more than that
• It was completely new and so anything could really be done with it
• There were two main approaches: realist and expressive

IDEAS:

Different countries did different things with the technology:

German Expressionism: 

• Mise-en-scene was seen as the most important element of film
• Unrealistic, distorted, elaborate sets, makeup, costumes and props
• Meaning was created through metaphors that the audience had to interpret
• Went from 1919- 1932, with notable films being ‘Metropolis’ (Fritz Lang, 1927) and ‘Nosferatu’ (F.W. Murnau, 1922).

Soviet Montage:

• Editing was seen as the most important element of film
• Ideas were told in ways such as juxtaposing shots and linking them with a consistent theme/ idea
• The Kuleshov Effect is how audiences derive meaning from two shots in succession rather than one single shot

Realism and André Bazin:

Realism:

• Films in this category were made to be an accurate depiction of reality
• Known as Cinema Vérité
• Emphasis on long takes, depth of field and on-location shooting
• The most important element of film was chosen by the audience and what they chose to focus on

André Bazin:

• French film critic and theorist
• Argued for realism in film being the most important function
• Gave his thoughts and ideas after the movements of German Expressionism and Soviet Montage

FILMS:

Introduction to Buster Keaton:

• Buster was a film director and actor during the era of silent comedies in the US during the 1920s

One paragraph for each of his films:

• One Week (1920)
• The Scarecrow (1920)
• The High Sign (1921)
• Cops (1922)

CONCLUSION:

• Idea that overall these films explored both realism and expressionism
• In favour of mostly realism but breaking reality (surrealism) for humour and pathos

---

 

Essay:

The technology for film came around in 1895 with no sound and a frame rate of just 8 fps, just about enough to give the illusion of movement. This technology started as just a novelty for people to watch a picture move such as the famous example of ‘The Arrival of a Train’ in 1896. Soon after, film started to become something greater than that and the technology rapidly developing in parallel across the world over the coming years, with different countries having different ideas as to what film should be. Since it was a completely new art-form, there were no rules or preconceptions of what to do and so there was total artistic freedom. The two main ideas explored during the early age of film were realism and expressionism.

One expressionist film movement during the early days of cinema was German Expressionism and it ran from the years 1919- 1932. The main idea of this movement was that the Germans believed that mise-en-scene was the most important element of film. The key attributes that these types of films had were elaborate, abstract and distorted sets, makeup, costumes and props which were often created to be confusing for the audience. These would add up to create meaning through metaphors which the audience would have to infer for themselves. One of, if not the most, influential and well-known German Expressionist films is ‘Metropolis’ which was directed by Fritz Lang in 1922. It is regarded as pioneering the science-fiction movie, being among the first feature-length movies in the genre.

Another expressionist film movement at this point in time was Soviet Montage and came from Russia in the 1920s. They believed that editing was the most important element of film and so the ideas that they wanted to get across were told through the juxtaposition and sequencing of the different shots. This also meant that audiences had to be active in inferring what the meaning of a film was through the editing of them. This effect actually has a name: the Kuleshov Effect. Named after the Russian filmmaker who pioneered the effect called Lev Kuleshov, the idea is that audiences will derive more meaning from two different shots in succession rather than a single shot on its own. An example of a Soviet Montage film is ‘Battleship Potemkin’, directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1925. This film was made as a revolutionary propaganda film and the director used his idea of a montage. It was edited specifically to make the audience feel sympathy for the sailors of the ship.

Realist films, known as cinema vérité, were made to be accurate depictions of reality. These films would have emphasis put on long takes, wide shots, depth of field and would mostly be shot on-location. The main idea of this approach to film is that the audience have to decide what is important to look at (“cutting with their eyes”).

The inevitability of having two very distinctly different approaches to filmmaking is that some people will always prefer one over the other, and so critics emerge as well. The most famous critic who wrote about this era of films was the French critic, André Bazin. He started writing about films in 1943 (notably, after these movements had come and gone) and co-founded a film magazine called ‘Cahiers du cinéma’. He argued that films should be an accurate reflection of objective reality, have deep focus, and a lack of montage. With his ideals for film, it’s no coincidence that he was opposed to expressionist films due to their usage of more abstract methods of filmmaking.

Buster Keaton was a huge name during the era of silent comedies in the US, being one of the most influential filmmakers of this time period. He worked throughout the 1920s for the most part, with some of his most notable work being his two-reeler comedies which usually stand at around 20 minutes. His style of comedy and filmmaking can best be described as surrealist as it breaks reality just enough to not be distracting but is still not fully realistic.

One of Buster’s films is called ‘One Week’ and was released in 1920. The overall premise of this film is that Buster and his newly-wed wife are building their house over the course of a week. All of the materials for this house are contained within a fairly small wooden box which isn’t nearly big enough to have a whole house in it. Obviously, this is a stretch of reality but it isn’t so ridiculous that it makes the film completely unbelievable. The style of the sets in this film appear realistic for the most part, with the main exception being the house when the exterior is complete and it looks incredibly rigid. The film uses simple continuity editing to tell its story, leading to a more realist approach to the order in which the story is told. The main diversion from this though are the jumps in time between each day, which are signified by a hand changing the day on a calendar.

Another film by Buster is his 1920 film ‘The Scarecrow’. This film starts out with the idea that the house is all one room but still functions like a traditional house. The way in which the film is actually shot and edited follows a more realist approach with lots of deep focus and extended long shots with the camera staying still for the most part. However, the set of his house leans into a more expressive theme as it has to get creative in how everything can fit into one room. As such, elements such as a record player turning into a stove are obviously breaks in reality and are there for laughs and not realism. One other way in which this film breaks reality is when the 4th wall is broken by a woman looking towards the camera as if she is communicating with the audience. This leans towards a more expressive idea that the film is self aware of it being a film and not reality.

Buster’s 1921 film ‘The High Sign’ has a gag very close to the beginning where he opens a newspaper which is seemingly endless. In reality, a newspaper would never be this big and so this aspect leans towards more expressive ideas. However, this could be considered actually a commentary on how newspapers were seen as being too big and that it is an exaggerated version of reality just enough that it becomes satirical but not unbelievable. There is also an example in this film of parallel editing with the dog outside the gun shop. The parallel editing tells the audience that these two events are happening at the same time and are going to become relevant to each other soon. This editing technique leans towards the ideas of Soviet Montage as the editing is used to convey meaning to the audience.

His 1922 film ‘Cops’ opens up with a shot of what appears to be Buster behind prison bars, so that when the film cuts to him just on the other side of a gate outside the moment is funny. The framing of the first shot combined with the cut into the second shot with the reveal of the joke shows the more expressive side of Buster’s films as techniques are being used specifically to hide information from the audience, as opposed to the realist approach of showcasing all the information possible. Throughout this film, the characters all have very bold and unsubtle expressions and movements. This is due to the nature of film at the time where sound wasn’t possible to play perfectly in time with the picture. The elaborate performances give meaning to the audience and so can be considered an expressive approach as opposed to a realist one.

Overall, Buster Keaton’s films were a combination of the two ideas of the expressive and the realist. The reason why he would do this is so that his jokes would still be funny and ridiculous, but still have a sense of realism to them that they are somewhat grounded in reality.