week 2

Films: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligeri (Robert Weine, 1920)

The Firemen of Folies-Bergere (with Josephine Baker) (Unknown, 1928)

Blacksmithing Scene (William Heise/ W.K.L. Dickson, 1893)

Sandow (W.K.L. Dickson, 1894)

Reading Due:

1.     Charles Musser, “At the Beginning: Motion Picture Production, Representation and Ideology at the Edison and Lumiere Companies” (TSCR)

I was most intrigued by the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari this week. The set design for this film is visually very compelling, I've never seen anything like it. The shading of color that is selected for each frame is also interesting as it sets the tone for the film and also goes hand in hand with the sound choices. The use of shading, the black corners narrowing in also adds something to the film that I can't explain, almost a claustrophobic feel. All together it fits the themes of eeriness, illusion, and the distortion of reality that the film tries to create.

I found the plot of the movie is interesting as there were a lot of twists and surprises. I am reading that this film is considered the first-ever horror film and I wonder in what ways this film paved the path for the horror films we have now. I find most horror films very predictable usually and often overuse sound effects to compensate for not scary the film is. A lot of work goes into creating suspense but without great writing and creative execution, it didn't add anything new that the audience hasn't seen before.

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