Nosferatu you are a dark and complicated soul, that's for sure. Setting wise, things are more easily figured out.
Nina is shown at the beginning of the film, as a beautiful, perfect, little twinkle toes - and we all know what happens to the goodens. Also - FORESHADOWING IS BACK BITCHHHES. "You cannot escape destiny" - surely thats foreshadowing the distaster along with the letters and what not like "nothing will happen to me".. right?
The weather immediately lets you know that you're in for a treat of a 1922 silent movie with the stormy/wet weather; nothing like a bit of pathetic fallacy to get you going. There are also a few sneaky menacing shadows that help to create the early feeling of the appearance of someone new and bad.
Its midnight or after sundown when all the action happens in the film, so the element of darkness adds suspense as your mind plays tricks on you and thinks can appear like (clicks fingers) THAT.
The setting created the atmosphere of vulnerability, by people being alone and therefore in more danger as "no one can hear you scream". Also, everything happens in small rooms, which is the one thing that really gets to me. Well actually it all does, especially the thought of a vampire noming on my neck. But, I have noticed that there's a lot of atmosphere created by the almost claustrophobic situations, as it slyly suggests to the reader that danger can easily happen, preparing them for the hungry blood sucking vampire. The room that Harker is in, and although there's no lock so he's not literally trapped, has been forced in a more gentle manner. There's also the coffins and confined spaced imagery painted, as well as the boat where people died below the decks.
The Gothic atmosphere is also created every now and then, probably more often than that but hey. As Mr F helpfully mentioned the connection between man and wife helps to create it, as there appear to be physic connections between them; the relationship slowing deteriorating as they are separated and Nina can do nothing but hopelessly sleep walk her way into danger.
There's obviously loads more, but I would like to give the others a chance to make a valid point rather than my jibber jabber. But if you doubt my actual ability to make notes, which I admit, this blog does represent, then just ask for my notes.
Toot-te-la-fruit. (courtesy of Joey Tribiani)
Fi's point about the darkness is tres bien. Dracula/Nosferatu is mainly awake at night and so that's when all the scaary creeeepy tings are agwarnin. Just after midnight Harker 'loses a little blood' like Renfield warned he would and there seems to be the idea of the night being oppressive and Harker being trapped there. The darkness seems to make him vulnerable and unprotected, nevermind being trapped, threatened, helpless and fearful. Wow, lots of adjectives there. They are adjectives, right? If they're not I'm going to be utterly embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteExpanding on the darkness thing, it's like the idea of the unknown, because you can't see what is coming for you in the darkness, which adds to the tension because it makes the character vulnerable, as Fi said.
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