Free Custom «German Expressionism» Essay Paper

The paper aims at shedding light on German expressionism and what motivate film makers in applying them. There are various methods that are used to show different moods or the message to be conveyed by a certain film. One of the methods that are applied by directors of films to express the mood of the film is use of lighting (Schoenbaum, 2000). In order to bring out the use of lighting in film as a way of expression to show various moods for example happiness, sadness or even anxiety that the film makers intended to portray, we would review the works of Hitler and the Nazi party. Adolf Hitler as he was referred to was the leader of Nazi party; he led Germany as a chancellor for the year 1933 to 1945. During the Hitler's era, there was bloodshed in Germany as he was a dictator who would persecute anyone who opposed his rule of who seemed to have divergent views from his. Thus the film maker can apply lighting to show the mood of the people at the time of the rule of Hitler and his Nazi party.

 

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German expressionism is a word that is used to describe various creative movements that were identified to different culture that came to flourish in the period immediately before the First World War in 1920s. Before the First World Wars the demand for the films was at its peak but the Germans had no enough resources to produce the films in order to meet the demand and thus they applied use of expressionisms to express different mood and feelings in the society (Upton, 2000). There are different ways in which expressionism can be applied in films as a way of expressing the feelings or the situation at hand (Donahue, 2005).

Some of the expressionism methods used in making films to enhance feelings or the mood include use of metaphors and symbols to show deeper meaning of the statement used in the film. It should be noted that expressionism need creativity in order to deliver effectively its intended purposes (Lahiri, 2010). For expressionism to be effective it should be relevant to the intended audience and thus it should take into consideration the culture and the beliefs of a certain community.

Another method that was applied in Germany to enhance expressionism is use of lighting. Use of dark and light element in pictures or film or any another piece of art is referred to as Chiaroscuro. The use of lighting in the film can be used to enhance a certain theme for example the theme of violence, peace, love or even hatred. From the words of Lott Eisner and Thomas Elsaesser, use of lighting techniques is one of the core elements in cinematic expressionism. However, other people such as Scheunemann refute the assertion that all cinemas and films that have applied the lighting element can be classified as having used expressionism.

In the film that covers the leadership of Hitler and the Nazi party, the film maker may use dark elements to show the dictatorship and iron fist with which Germans were faced with during the reign of Adolf Hitler and his party that was known as Nazi. The dark element signifies the sufferings that Germans and others passed through the reign of Adolf Hitler that is between the period 1933 and 1945. It is during the reign of Hitler, for example that the Jews were persecuted in Germany. Thus the dark elements are symbolic to show the "dark" moments that Germans passed through during the reign of Hitler.