Influences: German expressionism

In order to get the right type of creepy tone I looked at some German Expressionist films, most notably The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. In this film, the cinematographer Willy Hamister, as was the trend with many german expressionist films, used a technique called chiaroscuro lighting, which is creating a strong contrast between light and dark. In order to achieve this he had to create large, sharply defined shadows to litter the shots. These help create a very creepy, highly formalistic atmosphere to the whole film. In this shot we see an example of chiaroscuro lighting, with the Somnambulist and the virgin he is kidnapping being spotlit, against a background decorated with abstract patters made of shadows. The spotlighting, though it appeared very deliberate, creates this contrast between the dark and the light which contributes to the overall strangeness in the tone of the film. This technique is used at numerous times throughout the film to similar effect, as well as several other techniques present in this shot.
   Another thing to note is the type of light used in this shot. The lights in the film all seem to have very sharp edges to them, allowing for very defined and powerful, rather than soft and naturalistic, shadows to be created. This can be seen most clearly in the shadow on the wall of the somnambulists arm, the edge of which is very sharp indeed. These defined shadows on the walls almost create the sense that the scene is being haunted by its own shadows. The art direction is also key in creating the chiaroscuro because of the colours of the costumes. The somnambulist is dressed all in black, while the virgin is in white. This compliments the type of lighting used very nicely as simply in the costumes there is already a contrast, symbolic of binary opposites of purity and corruption, being put into practice. These two factors work together nicely to create a very striking image, with heavy contrast and a sense of terror.
   I intend to utilise some of these techniques in our film. For example, I will be trying to use lights which create very sharp shadows, in order to create a similar sense of looming terror around the scenes. I will also, to some degree, create a similar sense of terror using spotlighting, though not overtly. Hopefully the cluttered background will stop the spotlighting being the focus of the shot but not disguise it altogether. The cluttered sets may present a challenge in trying to surround the characters with shadows in a similar way to this film, as we will be trying to keep the elements of the set fairly visible even if they are out of the spotlight. I will hopefully be able to use the sets to create abstract patterns around the characters. Another challenge will be working with the art direction in terms of colour palette. While this film in some ways benefits from being black and white, if we are choosing to shoot in colour we may need to pay some attention to how contrast can still be created, perhaps by using contrasting colours in the shots.