FACS 1900 and Weimar Culture

Weimar Cinema and Film

2004-11-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

In the second part of the Weimar era, from 1924-1929, the citizens of Weimar were celebrating their newly found freedom. This part was representative of the good times, the republic was becoming stabilized, the minimal political violence, and the recognition and celebrations of such new developments as new objectivity. This advancements were also portrayed in cinema and film.

Movies such as Metropolis (1925) and Berlin: Symphony of a City (1927) were examples of the new film wave. The unique thing about these films is that nothing actually happens. There is no real plot. Both movies go through the typical German day from sunrise to sunset with no real clincher. This was all they needed at the time; the sheer beauty of their new free land, where there was no where to go but up. It needed no highlights. However, today, highlights are required or else the audience will fall asleep.

In today's moden fast-paced world, people get bored very easily. Such high action movies as James Bond 007 and Mission Impossible are needed to, at the very least, keep our attention. Weimar films would not perform very well at the box office today because nothing really happens; and if nothing really happens, people have much better things to do with their time.

The Verfremdungseffekt

2004-11-19T16:58:00.000-05:00

After world war I ended, a man named Bertolt Brecht emerged in Berlin. He felt that Germany's new image after the war could not be conceived if it was attempted to be expressed in theatre. The conventional theatre ways would not suffice to handle this new impact. Brecht invented a way to get the audience to reflect upon themselves rather than with the character on stage. These techniques included chracters braking into song midline, abstract lighting, and the audience being able to blantly see theatrical equipment. He called it the verfremdungseffekt.

As absurd as this may sound, the verfremdungseffekt is still used today. In many musicals, such as Godspell, Hairspray, and Urinetown, song is added into the theatrical equation to reinforce the points. All indoor productions, and even some outdoor ones, have theatrical lighting; even "white" light is made up of pale blues and oranges. In studio spaces, there are often no curtains, and the audience can see the lights overhead of the stage as well as characters hiding offstage waiting for their cues.

Despite these effects, the verfremdungseffekt actually does work and the characters can still leave with their own opinions as they are reminded that what they're seeing isn't real. By the alienation from the character, the spectators can draw their own conclusions.

Photomontage and Set Design

2004-11-15T11:38:00.000-05:00

Although photomontage has been seen to this point as a visual art form, only one dimensional on a piece of paper or canvas, I believe there is more that can be created following the same gereral guidelines of photomontage. Photomontage was described in class as a collection of images arranged together to create a new image. In historical examples of photomontage from the Weimar era, all of the images were portrayed by one-dimensional print.

In theatre, stage design is usually a combination of symbols and other visual representations to express themes or moods of the play. Many are conventional, such as a the kitchen scenes in 'Our Town', but more and more are becoming abstract, such as in 'No Great Mischief'. As a midpont, some are now conventional areas expressed in abstract ways, such as in the CanStage production of 'Vigil'. The entire play took place in a woman's apartment, but rather than an ordinary apartment, abstract elements, such as those in photomontage, were brought in.

None of the walls which made up the apartment were vertical; all of them were leaning in some way. Some of the windows looked brand new and some were scattered with holes. Props from all different eras were incorporated into the set and created an unconventational environment. The overall set conveyed the messages of old and new, disorganization, and delapadation, all which were key elements. This set, as only one example, was a representation of a three dimensional photomontage.

Photomontage: A Thousand Interpretations

2004-11-08T01:47:00.000-05:00

Photomontage can be described as a collection of single images put together to create an entire new image. Many of these new works were created in the Berlin Dada. Today, photomontage has become almost mainstream, with children creating collages for school and even computer programs being able to create them from thousands of tiny images.

The montage can give many different meanings depneding if the viewer is looking at one of the tiny images, a section of a few tiny images, or the overall work. As an example, perhaps several images of devils are used, and when arraged, portray and overall look of an angel sitting on a cloud. With so many different images, it would be quite easy to create a contradictory statement, or a battle within the mind visually.

This leads to juxtaposition. Juxtaposition is greatly reliant upon interpretation. Because so many different images are used, the viewer will have different attitudes and beliefs regarding each one and create a very unique interpretation and perspective.

The photomontage is still used today because it exemplefies how seemingly different images can be fused together and brought to an entire new meaning.