Two RE: Query: ruckenfigur in cinema

From: Jonathan Stubbs [[email protected]]

Moses' parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments is a good example. In
fact the scene has similarities with the Caspar Friedrich painting you
mention. There may be examples in Lawrence of Arabia too, but I think
Lawrence is mostly filmed from the front.

Regards,
Jonathan Stubbs
________________________________________
From: Michael Fitzgerald [[email protected]]

Would you also include in this category the hand-held "follow shot," such as
the one used in Rouch and Morin's Chronique D'Un Ete, in which the camera
follows the subject of the action from behind? It's also very prominent in
Rouch's Gare du Nord. I have also seen this in Woody Allen's Husbands and
Wives, and it is very prominent in Darren Aronovsky's The Wrestler.

-----Original Message-----
From: H-NET List for Scholarly Studies and Uses of Media
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bell-Metereau, Rebecca L
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 7:13 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Query: ruckenfigur in cinema

From: Dominik Schrey [[email protected]]

Werner Herzog uses this device very frequently, especially in his earlier
films. I think in his audio commentary on Nosferatu he even talks about it.
In this particular film, there are also quite a few shots that resemble
paintings by C.D. Friedrich (the scene shot at the Partnachklamm, for
example).


> From: Bill Schaffer [[email protected]]
>
> The 'ruckenfigur' is a compositional device most strongly associated with
the German Romantic/sublime painter, Caspar Friedrich.
>
> It consists of a figure in the foreground, back turned towards the viewer,
who has been 'halted' by the sublime vista in the background.
>
> The most famous example is Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.
>
> One genre in which it is used quite often is in representing stage
performances. We look from just behind the performer as they are momentarily
overwhelmed by the vast crowd awaiting their performance.
>
> However, I'm surprised how few examples I can think of from other genres.
>
> John Ford Westerns just occurred to me now. Especially The Searchers.
>
> I am working on a video artist who uses this device frequently.
>
> I would be really grateful for any hints on
>
> 1. famous or significant examples of  'ruckenfigur' compositions in
cinema.
>
> 2. any essays or analyses of the use of this figure.
>
> thanks in advance
>