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E-book
Author Loew, Katharina, author

Title Special effects and German silent film : techno-romantic cinema / Katharina Loew
Published Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, [2021]

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Description 1 online resource (320 pages) : illustrations
Series Film culture in transition
Film culture in transition.
Contents Cover -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Special Effects and the Techno-Romantic Paradigm -- 1. Imagining Technological Art: Early German Film Theory -- 2. Modern Magicians: Guido Seeber and Eugen Schüfftan -- 3. The Uncanny Mirror: Der Student von Prag (1913) -- 4. Visualizing the Occult: Nosferatu (1922) -- 5. The Technological Sublime: Metropolis (1927) -- 6. "German Technique" and Hollywood -- Conclusion: Techno-Romantic Cinema from the Silent to the Digital Era -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary In recent decades, special effects have become a major new area of research in cinema studies. For the most part, they have been examined as spectacles or practical tools. In contrast, Special Effects and German Silent Film, foregrounds their function as an expressive device and their pivotal role in cinema's emergence as a full-fledged art. Special effects not only shaped the look of iconic films like Nosferatu (1922) or Metropolis (1927), but they are central to a comprehensive understanding of German silent film culture writ large. This book examines special effects as the embodiment of a 'techno-romantic' paradigm that seeks to harness technology-the epitome of modern materialism-as a means for accessing a spiritual realm. Employed to visualize ideas and emotions in a medium-specific way, special effects thus paved the way for film art
Analysis special effects, German cinema, silent cinema, film style, technology
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-308) and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on April 14, 2021)
Subject Silent films -- Germany -- History and criticism
Cinematography -- Germany -- Special effects -- History
Films, cinema.
Technology: general issues.
ART -- History -- Modern (late 19th Century to 1945)
Cinematography -- Special effects
Silent films
Germany
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9789048551712
9048551714