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Examples Of Expressionism In Frankenstein

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The story of Dr. Frankenstein, a man who pieces together a monster from human body parts, is a dark one. In Frankenstein, released in 1931, director James Whale looks to German Expressionism to portray his story quite literally in the right light. The images in this movie are dark to match the tone and story line. Images of madness and darkness fill the screen. Through mishap and misfortune, the brain of a criminal is placed into the monster that Dr. Frankenstein creates, and when he is awoken, he wreaks havoc upon all that he encounters. Some scenes were even deleted from the original production, such as the one where the monster drowns the little girl in the lake, because they were seen as too horrific at the time.
The beginning of the movie wastes no time in using lighting accompanied with words of warning to set the mood for the rest of the movie. The narrator, standing alone in front of a drawn curtain, is lit from one side, forming shadows on the other side of him. This is not …show more content…

Frankenstein had hoped for, nor is it what he expected. The first time we see him unwrapped and upright, he backs slowly out of the doorway. This shot is unusual, as we don’t often see actors introduced by walking backwards. His movement is stiff and as he reaches the doorway he begins to turn around. Once he is completely turned, the camera does another interesting thing, it zooms in on the monsters face, not in one continuous motion, but in several choppy movements. This adds a curious and dramatic effect, and we can see the monsters blank eyes and dull face. As the monster approaches Dr. Frankenstein his shadow looms over the scene in the background, growing larger and larger. In the next scene, when he is chained in the cellar, his shadow is again emphasized on the wall behind him. Throughout the scenes the background is again simple. There is nothing extra that could take away from the monster and the things that are happening around

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