Outline for paper topic: Metropolis (1927)

I.               Introduction

II.             Background Information

1.     Writer/Director/Cast/Important Figures

2.     Setting/City of Metroplis

a. Club of the Suns: Stadium & Eternal Gardens

b. Upper City: Old House, Gothic Cathedral & Yoshiwara (Red Light District)

c. Machine Area: Moloch Machine, Partanoste & Heart Machine

d. Ancient Catacombs

3.     Plot/Themes

III.           Special Effects Used in Metropolis

1. Frame by Frame Shooting

a. Animated Drawings by Erich Kettelhut

-“Tower of Babel at Night” & “Daybreak” Erich Kettelhut

                                    -1,000 individual images (25/sec of film)

           

b. Set for Main Shopping Street – 2D and 3D elements

-Relief Model “Foreground Buildings” (1:16) with

-Painted Backgrounds “New Tower of Babel”* (1:100)         

*3.5 meters high = 350 meters

                                    -Traffic on Roads (300 miniature cars, animated with stop motion)

2. Schufftan Process by Eugene Schufftan, Painter & Architect

                        a. Explanation of Schufftan Process

                                    -Mirror trick process combines models and real scenery

-Mirror mounted at a 45 degrees angle in front of camera lens   reflects image of miniature model

-Part of mirror is scratched away so that camera can film real scenery behind mirror

           

b. Worker’s City Central Square       

-Full scale lower floors of buildings

-Upper floors were mirror images

c. Stadium of the Suns

-Lower portion of wall is real set (10 metres high)

-Upper portion of wall is reflected image of models 1:20 of     simulated size.

d. Memorial to Hel

-60cm tall statuette of head – mirror image projected above headless pedestal

*also used as platform for camera/crew

3.  Animated Photography of Gunther Rittau

a. Marginal Exposure

-In-camera technique as opposed to post-production or “laboratory”process

-Camera had to be re-wound multiple times and re-exposed

-Same negative was re-exposed up to 30 times

b. example of Mechanical Person

-First shot of mechanical person on pedestal

-Then figure replaced by black silhouette

-Neon lights moved up and down

-Filmed through glass plate with thin layer of grease

-Glass plate removed for electrical discharge shots

IV.           How Metropolis Has Influenced Later Films

1.     Aesthetic Influence

a.     Architecture

-Bladerunner and The Fifth Element

b.     Character Design/Costume

-Star Wars and Dr. Strangelove

2.     Special Effects Influence

a.     Schufftan Process
      -The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

-Blackmail (1929)

                                    -Hugo (2011)

V.             Conclusion