Blog 14

Lizzette Reyes
Dr. Joyce Rhueban
American film
April 26, 2010

Sunrise Evaluation

The 1927 movie Sunrise was among many others to play a significant role in the development of film and movies. With its special effects and cinematic techniques, Sunrise became a well renowned film directed by F.W Murnau. After watching the film myself, it was not the film’s great use of special effects or camera angles that caught my eye, but the combination of the acting together with the lighting. Given that the movie is a silent film, the feeling of the movie depends highly on the acting style. The dramatized expressions and exaggerated emotions are very much needed to help the audience experience and sympathize with what the characters are feeling. In addition, the lighting also used in the film only further emphasizes their expressions and the mood. Without these two elements to the movie, it would be almost impossible to assume and understand the rollercoaster of emotions the characters experience throughout the film. I will show specific examples of how the actors used their facial expressions and body language to reveal their feelings, and how without that and the lighting used, it would be hard to grasp the emotion and feelings the characters are supposed to convey and interpret the intentions behind it.

Movies along with actors and actresses in the 1920s were rising with popularity. Most actors were former stage performers and their use of body language and melodramatic styles came in handy as they took roles in silent films. Specifically in expressionist films, the actors were required to exaggerate their expressions in order to illustrate the conflicts between the characters. Expressionism was not as popular in the U.S as it was in Europe, but it was a very successful style used in films for a while. Lighting is one of the major techniques used with the expressionist style, and it assists in emphasizing the mystery, importance, or battle between good and evil in any shot. With Sunrise in particular, throughout the movie there are several shots in which the lighting is manipulated in a distinctive manner in order to demonstrate the mood and director’s underlying intentions. From the beginning we are able to clearly see the contrasts between the characters and within them as well.

The first scene in which the acting style and lighting techniques clearly illustrate the emotions and conflicts with the characters is when the city mistress first presents the idea of killing his wife to the husband. The first shot is presented at a medium close up view on the characters, normal angle, and at a medium key lighting with high key highlights on their faces from the moonlight. In this scene the audience can immediately assume the forbidden relationship between the husband and the city woman. It’s a dark setting with subtle lighting from the moon to add mystery and highlight the expressions on their faces. When the mistress suggests to the husband to kill his wife, it immediately goes to a medium close up on his face, at a high angle, with high key lighting from the moon to emphasize the shock that made him draw back. The acting in these shots in particular is very valuable to the understanding of the struggle the husband briefly goes through. As soon as the mistress suggests murder, he immediately draws back with wide opened eyes and his hands pointed to himself as to say, “me?!” Then he pushes the woman off of him and they have a momentary fight as the woman is trying to get him to give in. Without these motions, there would hardly be a way to conclude that the man ever really weighed the consequences of the idea presented. It was dramatized in a sense in which the thoughts and decisions of the characters were clearly introduced.

The next scene that helps in accentuating the conflict of emotions within the characters with the acting style, is when the husband is about to kill his wife and then changes his mind. The first shot is viewed at a high angle, ¾ shot, and high key lighting from the sun. In the next couple of shots, the camera moves in from medium shots to close ups as the wife is becoming suspicious of the husband’s intentions. The husband never once picks up his head, so the wife has a worried look in her face as she tries to peek down and get a good look at her husband’s face. The acting in these shots help to build up the suspense for what’s about to happen, because we know what he’s about to do, but we don’t know how. In the seventh shot of this sequence you see the husband slowly get up and tower over the wife. He doesn’t make any immediate actions, but the wife puts her hands together as she pleads for her life as he gets closer. With no words we know that the wife has figured out her husband’s intentions and is begging for her life. After that it goes to a medium shot to the husband’s face as he thinks for two seconds and covers his face when he instantly regrets what he was about to do. We can physically see their thoughts acted out, therefore making it easier to understand the direction of the silent film.

A shot in which the lighting is clearly valuable, is in the church scene when the husband is begging for forgiveness. We see when he first breaks down and truly regrets his actions while he’s watching a couple getting married. He cries into his wife’s lap and there we can see her feel sorry for him. They move into a different spot where they’re leaning against a wall and the shot changes. It’s in a medium shot, normal angle, and the background is in low key lighting. In this shot in particular, the lighting helps to place some significance in it. They’re in a church, he’s begging for forgiveness, and small rays of the sun are peeking in through the window and highlighting the characters and their faces. Behind them is pretty dark but there’s sun shining on them, as to say they’re in the light, because that’s the moment in which the wife is consoling the husband instead and trying to tell him that everything is ok now. It might also have a tie to the fact that they’re in a church and the sun is a sign of light, purity, and forgiveness, not only from the wife, but maybe from god as well.

The next scene in which the acting adds suspense and allows interpretation for the characters’ thoughts and actions, is when the wife takes the husband to the barbershop. There is where a stranger flirts with the wife and the husband gets extremely upset. The husband could have easily left with his wife or told the man to leave her alone, but that’s not what he did. Instead, he slowly walks up to the man to make the audience wonder for a few seconds, “what is he going to do?” The camera goes into an extreme close up at a normal angle to show the husband slowly pull out a knife form his pocket. In the sixth shot of this sequence, it goes to a ¾ shot at a normal angle and somewhat medium key lighting. He keeps the suspense going as the man is showing a terrified expression and the husband gets closer, only to cut a flower off of him instead of his neck. The husband’s body language in this shot gives off signs of danger and intimidation, especially carrying a knife in his hand. It shows his character in wanting to protect what’s rightfully his, his wife. The lighting in this shot is also useful to it’s interpretation, because the lighting on the husband casts a shadow on the wall over the man sitting down, providing a sense of superiority as well as a dark and mysterious feeling to what he’s about to do.

Another scene where the acting is used to further heighten the comprehension of emotions conveyed in a shot is when the husband is out looking for his missing wife. He’s frantically running all over the place trying to get help from the town and you can clearly see the look of anxiety and fear on his face. The particular shot in which you can unmistakably identify the character’s frustration is filmed at a medium long shot, normal angle and at a low key lighting. It first gives you a view of the setting, the boats on the lake, and as it goes into a close up on the husband’s face, the look of fear intensifies as he’s losing hope of finding her. He specifically holds his hand to his mouth to illustrate him shouting for his wife, and his eyes widen to its fullest when he thinks he sees something. His body language demonstrates his level of desperation as he leans over the boat, almost touching the water, to show how badly he hopes to find his wife. From this we can conclude how much he loves his wife and how he is so determined to recover her.

The last scene that utilizes both acting and lighting to distinctly convey the emotions and conflicts between the characters, is when the husband goes to kill his mistress. At a medium long shot, the mistress goes to the door of the house as the man is about to step out. Here, the light is flushing out of the house, but the husband manages to be dark and difficult to see. He stands there with a murderous look, as his shadow is reflected on the floor and over the mistress that’s slightly below him. It presents him in a dark manner to illustrate his characteristics at the moment, vengeful and dangerous. He runs after her into a dark alley, where the long shot then focuses into a ¾ shot, and he catches up to her to begin choking her. Still at a ¾ shot frame, it moves into a high angle as the husband is over her choking her. The lighting is low key, with faint highlights of the moon on their faces. He’s furiously strangling her and the poor mistress can barely fight for her life. The setting is really dark, but it appears, when the nanny calls from the house, that it seems to brighten as the husband slowly rises and changes his persona. It almost shifts as the character himself all of a sudden has a change of heart.

Ultimately there are more than enough shots in this movie that fully demonstrate the valuable use of lighting and acting style. Taking into consideration that the film is silent, the acting provided combined with the lighting, were effective ways to allow room for interpretation of the characters and the erratic changes of their emotions and actions. Sunrise as a whole was a well structured movie, with various useful techniques, justifying its success and many positive critiques.