Sunrise murnau scaffolding design full#

She takes into account the social, political, and historical changes that took place in Germany between the lifetimes of Wagner and Murnau admitting that вЂњa radically altered world called for a radically altered artвЂќ. Jo Leslie Collier traces MurnauвЂ™s theatrical influences as far back as the operas of Richard Wagner. Murnau himself asserted that cinema had to be a вЂњtheatre for the eyeвЂќ and that the relationship between characters, objects, and camera must be вЂњan element in the symphony of the film.вЂќ 7 In his article in Weimar Cinema Thomas Elsaesser even suggests that the character of Nosferatu himself was вЂњsomething of a spoofвЂќ and an вЂњinsider joke about ReinhardtвЂќ, a powerful and charismatic figure who encouraged вЂњanticsвЂ¦eccentricity and extravaganceвЂќ in his circle of acquaintances and owned a private castle in Austria.

Sunrise murnau scaffolding design full#

It is notable that the full title of Nosferatu is Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. 5ДЄccording to Margret Dietrich, his staging created вЂњtheatrical symphonies in which words and music, lighting and painting effects, and the art of acting were fused in an intoxicating whole which swept all along with it by the strength of its gripping qualities and its atmosphereвЂќ 6 These qualities evidently inspired the young Murnau as he strove to create a similar type of вЂњsymphonicвЂќ unity in his films, controlling every step of the process from screenplay, to art direction, to editing. Lighting played a dominant role in his work, allowing him to вЂњachieve that highest form of expressionвЂ¦the cooperation of all factors toward a common goalвЂќ through вЂњthe synthesis and analysis of all form through lightвЂќ вЂ“ another valuable lesson imbibed by his pupil. ReinhardtвЂ™s revolving stage allowed his actors and sets to smoothly transition between scenes without interruption, in much the same way that long takes and a moving camera would do in MurnauвЂ™s films. The вЂњveritable treesвЂќ standing on a stage that was вЂњcovered not with a painted ground-cloth, but with what seemed palpable grass, in which the feet sunk among the flowersвЂќ created a powerful illusion of reality in a play conventionally associated with fantasy and artifice. His production of ShakespeareвЂ™s A Midsummer NightвЂ™s Dream stunned audiences by the unexpected вЂњnaturalismвЂќ of its forest setting and the use of a revolving stage to maintain a sense of continuity between scenes. Though Reinhardt was primarily a theatre director, his innovative ideas about lighting, set design, and continuity had a huge impact on MurnauвЂ™s films. His love for the stage led him to join a new theatre school founded by Max Reinhardt. 2 MurnauвЂ™s brother, Robert Plumpe Murnau describes his passion for reading, saying that, вЂњAs soon as he could read he fell on every book that came his way, whether it was a novel or a classical drama.вЂќ 3ДЄlthough he studied art history and literature at University, Murnau was also passionate about the theatre, and even constructed his own theatre as a boy to stage plays with his brothers. In her extensive biography of Murnau, Lotte Eisner includes a number of interviews with his family members and friends, which shed some light on his early life and some of the influences that show up prominently in his work. The primary films referenced in this material are available to view within the article: The style and content of his work were enormously affected by his upbringing and the influences that he met with in his development as an artist. This statement is based on an analysis of the state of cinema before Murnau and consequently his impact on the medium, the historical, artistic, and social factors that influenced his own work and vision, their reflection in his films, and the techniques, ideas, innovations, signature characteristics, and aesthetic choices that shaped his body of work. This essay is focused on the work of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, whom I consider to be one of the first auteur filmmakers in world cinema.