Both Stoker’s Dracula and Mernau’s Nosferatu have been used to create a new text, with its own concerns, the new text being shadow of the vampire, and its concerns being that it needs to appeal to a postmodern audience. Shadow of the vampire is a new text representing new elements that resonate with a contemporary, post modern audience. Various elements of the gothic mode for example vampirism, immortality, sexuality, and the shadow motif have been appropriated, also Intertextuality is created through the use of real Nosferatu footage, and re-enactments of Nosferatu in order to appeal to a postmodern audience.
The two texts Dracula and Nosferatu have been used to create the film shadow of the vampire. Shadow of the vampire is not a straight transformation of Dracula and Nosferatu, it is a new text representing new elements that resonate with a contemporary postmodern audience. This postmodern film has used elements from the two historical texts, in a playful and ironic fashion to appeal to a postmodern audience. One of the main aspects of the film that appeals to a postmodern audience is the idea of the emphasis on the process, which is all about making a film about the making of a film.
Ironically the post modernists have used a film about the making of a film to critic the film industry, the very industry that produces their film. Playfulness is represented in many ways throughout the film to appeal to a postmodern audience. At the start of the film when the credits are playing playfulness is shown when modern art is used to create something that looks medieval. During a re-enactment of Nosferatu Shrek talks when he in not supposed to, Murnau reacts by saying “give the lip readers a thrill” this playful dialogue is directed towards the fact that Nosferatu is a silent film and you cannot hear what the actors saw.
The Term Paper on Postmodern Frame Essay – Text in Art
The use of text within to the visual arts can be traced back as far as the inscribed carvings found on cave walls created by the Indigenous population of Australia approximately 46000 years ago. However, over the past few years, the use of text in art, also known as the art of typography, has become a frequent means of communication for artists in the creation of their works. Text within art can ...
Various elements of the gothic such as vampirism, immortality, sexuality, and shadow motif have been taken from Dracula and Nosferatu and have been appropriated to create a new text that appeals to a postmodern audience. In shadow of the vampire the camera is represented as the vampire it metaphorically feeds off people in the film, it reduces its subjects to a mere shadow, taking their flesh and blood away. This idea is evident in the dialogue when Greta says “theatrical audience gives me life, while this thing merely takes it from me” suggesting that essentially the camera is the vampire.
The juxtaposition of the new and old and the seamlessness of past and present coming together for example the lap coats, goggles, and camera juxtaposed with the old surroundings shows that time is non linear in the cinematic world, this also gives the cinema a sense of immortality as if it has lived forever emphasising the idea that the cinema itself/camera is the vampire. In Dracula the idea of immortality is represented through Dracula himself, as he is strong, powerful and can live forever. However in Shadow of a vampire the new idea of immortality is that of the immortality of the film maker Murnau.
Murnau is obsessed with the idea that he will live on forever through his art, being the film he is making. Murnau acts like a megalomaniac, in order to produce his art, he sacrifices all else to satisfy his desire to live on through his art. He says to Greta “consider it a sacrifice for your art” this is dramatic irony as we know he has already sacrificed her life in the name of science and art. Dracula’s Mina Murray is the ultimate Victorian woman, she is the embodiment of the virtues of the age. Mina’s sexuality remains enigmatic throughout the whole of Dracula.
Though she marries, she never gives voice to anything resembling a sexual desire or impulse, which enables her to retain her purity. The sexuality in the film however is quite different, it has been appropriated to appeal to a postmodern audience. Shadow of a vampire reflects a side of society that Nosferatu and Dracula doesn’t, we see this in the appropriation of mina to Greta representing sexuality, moral decay, and a hedonistic society, this is characterised through Greta and her pursue of pleasure and drugs. In Nosferatu shadows are used to represent Orlok, and in Dracula shadows are used to represent darkness and Dracula himself.
The Essay on Shadow of the Vampire Film
This Jofa Film Studios film is all about the filming of a film. The movie that is being filmed is known as Nosferatu. The Shadow of the Vampire is not a hundred percent accurate to the movie directed by Friedrich Murnau. This movie gives the viewer a look at what is going on behind the scenes. This movie may seem more appealing to the viewer than the original movie, Nosferatu. The movie is not in ...
In the film these ideas have been appropriated in order to appeal to a postmodern audience. Murnau is represented as being the vampire’s shadow, he is seen as the dark and scary character. This makes Shrek seems weak, and venerable. It also makes the viewer feel empathy towards Shrek. An example of this is in the scene where we Shrek is looking into a projector at the light, the thing he longs for but can never have. This clip of the light is an actual clip from Nosferatu showing intertextuality and the link between the two films.
Re-enactments and use of actual Nosferatu footage in shadow of the vampire creates intertextuality, allowing the film to resonate with a post modern audience. Re-enactments such as the one in the scene at the dining table with Shrek and Gustav creates intertextuality, as well as cinema virtue. In this scene Murnau is directing Gustav to slowly cut his bread and to watch Shrek at the same time, when Gustav is almost finished cutting his bread Murnau yells loudly “don’t cut your finger”, causing him to really cut his finger creating cinema virtue.
The cinema virtue used in this scene helps the film appeal to a contemporary audience as the postmodern ideas of doing something for science and art are highlighted. Murnau wanted to make the film as real as possible because he saw it as filming a real documentary for the sake of science and art, he would go to any lengths to make the film seem real this is why he used naturalistic techniques to make Gustav really cut his finger.
In conclusion the two texts Dracula and Nosferatu have been used to create Shadow of the vampire, a new text that appeals to a postmodern audience. New postmodern elements and ideas, appropriations of various elements of the gothic such as vampirism, immortality, sexuality, and shadows, and also intertextuality have all helped in dealing with the concern that the film had to appeal to a postmodern audience.
The Term Paper on 180 Degree Film Shot Audience
The first stage in the production process is the creation of the script. This determines not only the dialogue of a piece, but lays down the basis of the film's plot. In modern cinema before a film goes into production it is probable that it's script has gone through a series of treatments and re-writes. Once a script is completed it is given to a director who's job it is to realise the script. ...
