The basis
During the period of recovery following World War 1, the German film industry was booming. However, because of the hard economic times, filmmakers found it difficult to create movies that could compare with the lush, extravagant features coming from Hollywood. The filmmakers of the German Universum Film AG studio developed their own style by using symbolism and mise en scene to add mood and deeper meaning to a movie, concentrating on the dark fringes of human experience.
The influence
As well as the direct influence of film makers who moved from Germany to Hollywood developments in style and technique which were developed through Expressionism in Germany impressed contemporary film makers from elsewhere and were incorporated into their work and so into the body of international cinema from the 1930s onward.
In 1924, Hitchcock was sent by his film company to work as an assistant director and art director in Berlin on the film The Blackguard. An immediate effect of the working environment there can be seen in his expressionistic set designs for The Blackguard.
The influence can also be seen though out the rest of Hitchcock's career. In his third film, The Lodger, Expressionism's influence extends to set designs, lighting techniques, and trick camera work.. In his later films, this influence continued through his visual experimentation, in the shower scene from Psycho blurred image seen through a shower curtain. Hitchcock said, "I have acquired a strong German influence by working at the UFA studios Berlin”. Hitchcock's film making has influenced many other film makers and has been one of the ways German Expressionist techniques have got into the present day.
In 1924, Hitchcock was sent by his film company to work as an assistant director and art director in Berlin on the film The Blackguard. An immediate effect of the working environment there can be seen in his expressionistic set designs for The Blackguard.
The influence can also be seen though out the rest of Hitchcock's career. In his third film, The Lodger, Expressionism's influence extends to set designs, lighting techniques, and trick camera work.. In his later films, this influence continued through his visual experimentation, in the shower scene from Psycho blurred image seen through a shower curtain. Hitchcock said, "I have acquired a strong German influence by working at the UFA studios Berlin”. Hitchcock's film making has influenced many other film makers and has been one of the ways German Expressionist techniques have got into the present day.
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