Skip to main content

Blog Post 3: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Welcome to The Blogging Brooke


     I believe that the 1920's horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a cinematic masterpiece for its time. Although, there was not many cinematography aspects that stood out to me, one thing that caught my attention throughout the film was its use of music to enhance its story telling.

    In the beginning of the film, when the two men were seeing Jane walk by them, the music was subtle and soft. However, during Alan's murder scene, the music was higher pitched and had a quicker tempo to build suspense and draw the viewers attention towards the screen. 

 
  When Francis, Alan's friend, found out that he was murdered, he leaves the vicinity and walks down a flight of stairs. As he is walking, his footsteps match the non-diegetic (sound in films that the character can not hear) and whilst in his somber state, the music turns quiet, representing his grieving. 

    When Francis tells Jane that Alan has been murdered, the shift in music goes from soft to harsh. The harsh sound is seemingly created by trumpets, clarinets, and tubas or a trombone. The film is using contradicting sounds to emit sadness. The quieter music we hear represents the sadness Francis and Jane are feeling, while the louder music represents the discovery of this untimely event and the anger/disappointment they are feeling.

    While the police are searching Caligari's house, the music is similar to that heard in the Sherlock Holmes films to resemble an investigation. The music is quicker paced to represent a chaotic and overthinking mind. 

    When Dr. Caligari invites Jane, the daughter of Dr. Olfen into his tent, she realizes that something is out of the ordinary. When on the look for her father, Dr. Caligari ends up showing her Cesare and the music starts accelerating to enhance the feeling of her being frightened at what she is witnessing.

    The scene then changes to Cesare entering Janes house while she is sleeping with a knife in his hand. The music suddenly gains speed, but the music continues to stay upbeat. From this, I have come to the conclusion that Cesare might be mentally unstable and he is the murderer that the investigators have been looking for. The upbeat music symbolizes his insanity and how he my view his actions as being a joke.

    Music is a very important aspect of film. Sound can gain an audiences attention while also emitting different emotions. As seen in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the music enhanced the tone of the scene by replacing dialogue with instrumental sound effects. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Post 1: My Interest in Film

 Welcome to the Blogging Brooke      Today I would like to share with you how my interest in film came to be. My first experiences with film began at a young age. I was always sitting by the television mesmerized by all of the colors on the screen. As I got older and learned to understand the storylines, my interest in film sky-rocketed.       The first film that I can recall watching and understanding is The Little Mermaid. I remember this because I had an obsession with mermaids and the ocean. I loved going to the beach with my family and pretending that I was a mermaid, so this is the movie that really stuck out to me. Additionally, my favorite show at the time was H2O, and to no surprise, it is a show about girls who grow mermaid tails when they touch water.     The Little Mermaid is making a live-action film, the trailer for it was just released a couple of days ago. I was ecstatic after I watched it and cannot wait for the fil...
1 comment
Read more

Blog Post 5: Rear Window

 The Blogging Brooke      Last week in class we watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rear Window. I enjoyed this film. I had high expectations prior to watching it because my roommate has always talked so highly about it. She says that it is one of her favorite films of all time, and I can see why. I loved the entire movie from the start. It had lots of suspenseful scenes, that kept me intrigued.       I think that this film was extremally advanced for its time. The entirety of the film is based in the apartment of L.B Jeffries. L.B stares and watches bis neighbors live their life. He understands their joyous moments, but also moments of sadness or anger. As he studies them, he becomes obsessed.       My favorite scenes from the film were when L.B knew something was wrong when Mr. Thorwald was sneaking out at night and he has not seen Mrs. Thorwald. You, the viewer could feel the intensity of the scene. The music was a key compo...
4 comments
Read more

Blog Post 11: You, Me, and Everyone We Know

 Welcome to the Blogging Brooke, This week in class we watched the 2005 Drama/Romance film, You, Me, and Everyone We Know. I enjoyed watching this film. The biggest takeaway I got from this was the importance that human connection has in people's lives. It focuses on how separation has a bad impact on human connection. In this blog I talk about how humans' thirst for some sort of connection in their lives, both human and electronic.  In the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Richard Swersey. He has just gone through a breakup with the mother of his two children, Peter and Robby. He is now a single father who struggles in his job as a shoe-salesman to support and provide for his kids. He finds himself alone, stressed, and tired. However, he is doing everything he can to rebuild a connection with both Peter and Robby.  Then one day while Richard was working, a young lady walked into his shop in search of shoes. This young lady is introduced as Christine. She is a l...
2 comments
Read more