German Expressionism was an artistic style in early 20th century Germany that depicted subjective emotions rather than objective reality through techniques like distortion, exaggeration, and fantasy. Expressionist artists explored dramatic and emotional themes using expressive color and line. The style was notable for its harshness and boldness, aiming to convey mental states through disconnected and distorted sets. While it captured the suffering of post-WWI Germany, Expressionism declined in the 1920s and its artists moved to Hollywood as the style lost popularity.

1. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
Dr. J. JANARDHAN

2. EXPRESSIONISM
• Its an artistic style
• Depict not objective reality, but the subjective emotions
• The artist accomplishes this aim through
Distortion
Exaggeration
Primitivism and fantasy
• It is one of the main currents of art in the later 19th and
the 20th Centuries
• It is considered as one of the artistic movement

3. EXPRESSIONISM
• These artists used the expressive possibilities of
colour and line to explore dramatic
and emotion-laden themes,
to convey the qualities of fear, horror & ugly…
• They broke away from the literal representation of
nature in order to express more subjective outlooks

4. EXPRESSIONISM
• The period of expressionism is also called Weimar period
• Captured the emotions and sufferings of nation & people
• German expressionism filmed the reality of daily life.
• German Expressionism roots lay in the works of
Vincent van Gogh,
Edvard Munch, and
James Ensor

5. EXPRESSIONISM

6. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
• The German Expressionists soon developed a style
notable for its Harshness,
Boldness,
visual intensity
• This style in films set out to convey the subjective
mental state of the protagonist

7. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
• The film’s use of expressionistic elements to establish a
narrative
• That creates a disconnect between subjectivity and
reality
• In scenes throughout the film, sidewalks lead nowhere,
walls appear warped
Creating strange shapes
• Buildings rise at distorted angles in the background

8. STYLE OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
• It captured the emotions and sufferings of the
broken nation and its people.
• The films made were weird, distorted with heavy
shadows to make the story look gloomy and
depressing
• The movement expressed the depression in the
people’s minds caused by the war

9. CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPRESSIONISM
• It used mise-en-scene and heavy atmosphere
• Long shadow effects
• Artificial sets with realistic details
• The details in the sets bring out the emotional,

10. CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPRESSIONISM
• Camera set in unexpected angles gives audience a
different perception
• Aims in evoking mystery, hallucinations and
extreme emotional stress
• Slow pace than other regular movies

11. END OF EXPRESSIONISM
• German expressionism came to an end in 1923
• It was named that expressionism was degenerated art
• German expressionists moved to Hollywood
• Expressionism was fade away gradually with disinterest
in the topic.

13. MUST WATCH FILMS
Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Paul Wegener’s The Golem (1920)
F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922)
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927)

14. THANK YOU