Nasferatu Analysis

The 1922 film classic Nasferatu was among the first black and white Horror films to capture the imagination of the captivated patrons of a fledgling cinema industry. The plot is loosely based on the 1897 novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, causing copywrite controversy among Stoker’s heirs who sued for compensation leading to the destruction of many original copies of the film. Many attempts have been made to restore the original film in its entirety but none of the original score survived so many of the early performances were left to improvise the musical score, leading to a great deal of variation. Although Nasferatu may have not been a completely original piece of art, its use of cinematography techniques make it a masterpiece of early Film

During this sequence, the filmmakers used an early film technique to transitions between scenes called the “Iris wipe” to improve the flow of the story line. This part of the film has many eye level, close up, face to face interaction sequences that are well lit and help establish the close relationship between both Hutters’s employer as well as provide an intimate depiction of his relationship with his wife. In the next sequence, the score takes a more ominous tone as Hutter departs his home for the mountains of Transylvania. During this sequence the filmmakers included several long shots of vast mountainous countryside and a few times shaded the outside of the frame as if looking through a telescope to help convey distance and the sheer expanse of the environment.
When Hutter first meets Count Orlok, various high angle and low angle shots are employed to emphasize counts Orlok’s elevated position on his carriage. A series of film splices also give the fast forward effect to count Orlok’s carriage making it appear unnaturally fast. The scene is reinforced by the next shot that depicts Hutter sticking his head out of the carriage in apparent disbelief at its speed. Special effects and a close-up shot are used to achieve the affect that the carriage is moving and the wind is

During the scene where Count Orlok and Hutter are at the table, the same frame shading technique is used as in the long-distance scenes, only this time it is used to communicate a close in focus on objects like the chiming clock or Hutter’s finger as he cuts it, causing count Orlok to go into a creepy blood lust fit and sufficiently scare the crap out his guest.
As the plot progresses, lighting techniques are used to create shadowing and suspense as Hutter starts to suspect that his client may be the infamous “Bird of Death”. After count Orlok had already feasted on his increasingly suspecting host a pair of times, Hutter finds him in a deep sleep in a coffin and runs to his room to hide. As he looks out the window, he observes Count Orlok load a trailer with coffins at the same speed his carriage moves. In this scene, the filmmakers use a stop motion technique to make it look as if Count Orlok lifts the lid of the casket through magic vampire