Nosferatu Expressionism

The film “Nosferatu” is a horror story about a vampire and its relationship with a young couple. The film is a product of German expressionism and uses misshapen views of reality, symbolism, eroticism and shadows to enhance the dark mood of the film. German expressionists, through certain patterns and styles, sought to show that reality could be seen through emotion. Their intent was to arouse feelings in their audience, for example through the use of vibrant colors and shapes or distortion. Many German expressionists were interested in the strange states that the mind can enter, which is seen when Ellen sleepwalks in “Nosferatu.” The scene in which Ellen is sleepwalking at first suggests that she is dreaming of her husband, Hutter, however
as the scene progresses we begin to see her connection to Nosferatu. The angle of framing for this scene is straight. We can see a chair and a bed in the foreground, while the main focus, Ellen, is for the most part in the distance but in the middle of the frame. Some strong light is coming from the porch where Ellen is standing, while the room that the camera is in is dark. There is high key lighting in the room to show the fact that its nighttime, but outside where the porch door is open, there is low key lighting. It is obvious because of the many shadows from the windows that cast onto the curtains. It also seems like the light is coming from the right side of the scene because when Ellen walks over to the porch her shadow is cast onto the curtains on the left side before she passes through the porch doors. The scene begins with a medium close up shot of Ellen in her bed shown from the waist up. Then it switches to a long shot where we see Ellen rise from her bed and walk onto the porch. Throughout this part of the scene, the view is from inside the room, and the porch, where the action is taking place, is in the background. The mise-en-scene in this scene illustrates the time period and class that the characters live in. One can surmise that the room belongs to a middle class family, for the décor and objects in the room are of good quality but not too over the top. Ellen herself wears a white nightgown that covers almost her entire body, which helps describe the time period she lives in and also helps further show her innocence.
This shot adds to the idea that while sleepwalking the mind is in an altered reality. The scene itself is tinted blue, which adds to the nighttime setting, and unlike all the other shots there is no dark border framing the shot. The director removed the border to further show Ellen’s dream state. There is also a high contrast between the darkness of the room and the brightness of the porch. When Ellen walks through the porch doors she walks into the light. This also lends to the idea that as she crosses the threshold she enters another world. Furthermore, one gets the idea that this world does not belong to the audience, for the shot is still from inside the room looking out onto the porch. While Ellen is sleepwalking, her husband is about to get bitten by Nosferatu. This scene is important because it shows both Ellen’s desire to protect her husband, and her psychological connection to Nosferatu, the man who wants to hurt him. To show us this, the director skillfully intercuts shots of Ellen and shots of Hutter and Nosferatu in his castle, a technique that was new at the time. The audience sees Ellen call out Hutter’s name, and then it cuts to Nosferatu’s shadow slowly leaving Hutter. Then we see Nosferatu turn around and look from the direction Ellen called. After Nosferatu leaves Hutter’s room, it cuts back to Ellen who finally knows that Hutter is safe and is relieved.