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Key Sequence Analysis - The Marsh Scene (Sunrise) - Coggle Diagram
Key Sequence Analysis - The Marsh Scene (
Sunrise
)
Lighting
The lighting in the marsh sequence takes on both expressive and real qualities
In the opening sequence the light is lwokey, soft and often backlit
This creates imagery that is beautiful and ominous, the Man and the Woman from the City's affair is evil and is expressed with darkness
In
Sunrise
the light is more than a cinematic element - its a motif
The Woman from the City is seen during the night with her backlit which emphasises her immorality and dishonesty
Cinematography
The first shot of the marsh sequence is a long tracking shot following The Man through the marsh
Murnau's "unchained camera" moves through the scene like a ghost, invisible and voyeuristic
The shot goes past the water, through the grass, over a fence, and under an awning of trees
The camera duplicates the world whilst satisfying audience's "appetite for illusion"
Connotations
In
Sunrise
"stasis signifies distress and movement implies freedom (Fischer, p55, 1988)
In the tracking shot of the marsh sequence when The Man is on his way to meet The Woman from the City, the cmaera work reflects The Man's state of mind
The Man's state if mind is also shown in George O'Brien's performenace as his gait is slow and lumbring, arguably monstrous
Framing
The framing of the scene is more expressive than real
Early in the narrative, many shots are formed around a plit or barrier
In the sequence, the Man is often framed opposite from the Woman from the City
They phyiscally occupy the smae time and space but the composition suggests an invisible border
Later, there are physical barriers between the characters
The frame of a door separates the Man from the Wife as he asks her to "go to the city" - these seperations, literal and invisible, express the psychological and actual divisions between the charaters
Special Effects
There are many
dissolves
and
superimpositions
In the scene, the Woman entices the Man with tales of city life
Murnau portrayed this by having the characters view images from the city as if they were watching a projected film
Later in the film, the reconclied Man and Wife walk across a street
They are so in love. they feel as if they are in paradise
Murnau employs a similar multiple exposure effect to show them walking through the traffic which dissolves to them walking through a garden before dissolving back to the reality of the city
These effects are used for expressing characters' psychology to the viewer
Editing
Murnau carefully used editing for both realist and expressionist ends
In this sequence, editing is expressive and real to allow the viewer to better comprehend the story and character psychology
The most expressive edit follows the opening shot of the Man and the Woman of the City's passionate embrace
Murnau cuts to the Wife who is embracing her child
The cross cutting of parallell imagery expresses several things
First, the image of mother and child shows the audience what is at stake because of this affair - the Man is losing his family
Second, the cut expresses the idea of the Man being "as helpless as a child" while in the Woman's arms
Third, this edit presents contrasting images of love as spitful and sympathetic - here montage is used for its expressive ability to present abstract meaning and emotions to the audience
Sound
Although
Sunrise
is a silent film, it was synchronised with a musical score
The sound of the bell is used as a motif at various points - there is a bell sound as soon as the Man decides to spare his Wife
Later, the bells are heard again and the Man and the Wife emerge from the church - here, bells signal the Man's change as he repents and renews his love for his Wife
Montage
Later in this sequence, montage creates realism
The Man, learning of the Woman from the City's plans, reacts violently by strangling her
Several deites along movements are made;
The Man reactd and races for the Woman - edit - The man pulls away from the Woman - edit - The Woman grabs the Man - edit - the couple falls into each other's arms
The montage, is fast and relentless - every cut is made to continue the action of the previous shot
This montage is
realistic
because the viewer can see and believe in the continuity of action - the short shots are
expressive
of the tension of the situation
This mixture of expressionism and realism in the montage allows the viewer to trust in the film's story and characters