Monday, 17 June 2013

Nosferatu- The most effective Gothic effects of productions in the film.

Nosferatu includes many Gothic effects of production.

The most striking Gothic production effect in Nosferatu is the use of light and dark and shadows.
We are introduced to a couple of who- the female is most striking to begin with as she is pale and dressed in white with darkened eyes. This use of light and dark may rise to the conotation that she is tired or worn and yet pure and innocent.
The male which we are introduced to has an element of mystery surrounding him and the other male introduced appears insane, from this point onward the scenery seems to become more mysterious and darkened with much more use of shadows and intimidation as we enter and unknown place in which houses and towering buildings are surrounded vast amounts of land.
Further introduction of mystery appears as we are introduced to the idea of phantoms and ghosts which introduce a new sense of the unknown.
Once our firstly introduced male enters the unknown building he is greeted by a mysterious male who comes across as someone to fear.
Another striking Gothic production feature is the introduction of the idea of darkness and danger of animal like creatures which appear from the unknown, also the idea of death and value of bloodshed and sacrifice. As well as the use of time as these dangerous events appear to happen at midnight an hour of uncertainty, often largely connotated with danger and the mystery of night. Traditionally linked to the arrival of mysterious creatures such as werewolf's and vampires.

Gothic Interpretation of an image


I view this image as Gothic as it involves many Gothic themes we discussed in class such as: Darkness, religion or darkened religion, the use of light and dark and blood.
This image has strong visual contrast within it in terms of the use of light and dark. This is effective as the dark elements show shadows also detailing of the church in the image. Shadows and darkness may be associated with danger and ideas of dusk and mystery which is strongly linked to many Gothic texts and also Nosferatu which includes a lot of use of dark in the means of hinting danger.
The image shows a church- which links to religious themes such as purity and innocence as often women are often viewed in white in Gothic films and texts. Also the use of light and dark may link to the sides of religion such as heaven and hell which may be included in Gothic texts. 
The moon is a key feature of this image as it conotates to mystery and night which is linked to a fear of the unknown and possibly death. 
Also the bats, this may conotates to death and blood as this is what bats feed on, this is largely used as a theme in Gothic texts. Also linking to the theme of blood shed and loss and often vampires and other mystical beasts, which are created to expose human nature and the features which are concerning within it.  
The building in this image includes a lot of architectural detail, which is the realisation of individuals after the age of enlightenment in which buildings were mostly geometric and ordered. However After this age individuals came to realise that thoughts and emotions play a large role in life and architecture not only logic, which would explain the intricate detail on the church in this image described as Gothic.