German

expressionism and
the influence it had
had on film noir and
the modern horror
genre

German
Expressionism

German expressionism is a range of creative movements that

were used in film in the 1920s and the 1930s, which was
between both the first and the second world war. German
expressionist films used stylistic shots that were exaggerated
to create incredible pieces of work. German expressionism
had made some good use of atmospheric lighting, producing
contrasts between light and dark sets-low key lighting.
Extreme camera angles were also used. The backgrounds,
lightings and angles that had been used were psychological
landscapes that had been painted on set, this could have
been to convey the weirdness and insanity of these fictional
worlds. This use of film making had involved a range of
silhouettes and lots of shadows that had created exaggerated
special effects during the motion.
Filmmakers were able to shoot on a non-realistic set and use
the lighting thanks to the set designers. German
expressionism has influenced the horror genre as a whole in
the early 1930s onwards. The first world war had an influence
on this style due to the heavy weight of emotions from
insanity, depression, madness and even betrayal. The
filmmakers were able to these emotions, allowing the shots
and sequences to look unrealistic.

Fritz Lang
Director Fritz Lang was a popular German director during the
first and second world war, this was due to his films being
influential as they were using the German expressionist
technique. Fritz Lang was best known for his films M, and
Metropolis. He directed other films such as The Testament of
Dr.Mabuse, The Big Heat, Fury and many more.
Fritz Lang was most popular for his work where he combined
popular genres with techniques used in German expressionist
films. His films entertained thousands of people worldwide due
to his innovative and really appealing work. During his career,
Fritz decided to move to the USA due to how he was treated by
the Nazis in Germany, this was because at the time the Nazis
were in power, having an influence on the media censoring
films, books etc. They would also ban any film that they think
would be irrelevant.
Although Hollywood were fully aware of his work and respected
him as a filmmaker, they only allowed him to make small
budget films. But when the studios wanted him to create a
certain style for them he did; this was the introduction of Film
Noir.

Film Noir
Film Noir was heavily influenced by
German expressionism, it was a movement
that had started in the early 1940s, where
American detective/thriller/crime fiction
was introduced to the screens. Film Noir
use of techniques had been influenced off
of German expressionism, this was echoed
through German expressionist directors
such as Fritz Lang. For example the
backgrounds that were used in film noir
films were dull, black and sometimes
represented a fictional world of insanity.
This created an effective technique of Mise
En Scene. These techniques were used to
influence a range of horror films.
Film Noir were most popular for sharing
similar thematic qualities of German
expressionism such as paranoia and
insanity. These themes had later influenced
horror films that had come out in the late
1970s.

Modern Horror
The aesthetics of modern horror slasher
films use many techniques. For example
the many uses of low angle framing, slow
mothing, low key lighting, soft focus. These
are some examples of techniques used to
produce and convey a powerful horror film.
Low budget horror films can be produced
more successfully than other genres such
as sci-fi or fantasy as it requires a few
cheap techniques influenced by German
expressionism, and film noir such as lowkey lighting, wide-angle photography etc.
Filmmakers such as Fritz Lang were able to
create wonderful independent horror films.
Other things that are considered when
directing a horror film is the setting of the
films as well as the costumes that the
characters wear as well as the use of
sound within the diegesis created by the
director such as diegetic and non-diegetic.

German Expressionism
Image Board

Film Noir Image Board

German Expressionism Influence

On Horror