COMP 2C: Sunrise overview

Question 1

What technique does the opening vacation montage in “Sunrise” use to convey summertime?

Answer 1

Multiple exposures and super-impositions.

Question 2

How is lighting used metaphorically when the Man and the Wife renew their love in the church?

Answer 2

They move from shadow into light, symbolizing the renewal of their marriage vows.

Question 3

What visual oppositions are present in “Sunrise”?

Answer 3

Day vs. night, the city vs. the country, the dangerous Woman from the City vs. the innocent Wife.

Question 4

What does the mud the Man and the Woman from the City wade through symbolize?

Answer 4

Their relationship.

Question 5

What editing technique is used in the film’s opening montage?

Answer 5

Rapid editing to give a graphic representation of the summer holidays in the city.

Question 6

What is notable about the editing in the scene where the Man and Wife walk through the city?

Answer 6

A dissolve shot is used to merge the city and the country together.

Question 7

What motif is used in “Sunrise” to signal the Man’s change and renewal of love for his wife?

Answer 7

The sound of bells.

Question 8

What does the Woman from the City represent in “Sunrise”?

Answer 8

The ‘flapper’ figure, representing a threat to the stability of marriage.

Question 9

How are the characters in “Sunrise” named and why?

Answer 9

They are universal types, hence their titles like the Man, the Wife, etc.

Question 10

What is Murnau’s view on the camera’s role in filmmaking?

Answer 10

He believed the camera should have the greatest possible mobility to record the most fleeting harmony of atmosphere.

Question 11

What does “Sunrise” exemplify about the late silent period?

Answer 11

It exemplifies the artistic peak of filmmaking during the late silent period.

Question 12

Why was “Sunrise” significant for Fox Studios?

Answer 12

It was Fox’s most expensive silent film, intended as a ‘prestige picture’ to demonstrate their capability in high cinematic art.

Question 13

How does “Sunrise” challenge Bazin’s notion about realist and expressionist devices?

Answer 13

It employs both montage and deep-focus, long takes, merging fantasy and reality through a subjective camera.

Question 14

What is typical of the late silent period in terms of lighting in “Sunrise”?

Answer 14

The use of single light sources, such as a candle on the table and light through a window.

Question 15

What expressionist device does Murnau employ in “Sunrise” to make the background recede?

Answer 15

Forced perspective.

Question 16

How does Murnau’s use of long takes affect the film “Sunrise”?

Answer 16

It gives the film a lyrical and poetic quality.

Question 17

How is the sound of bells used in “Sunrise”?

Answer 17

As a motif at various points, signaling significant moments such as the Man’s decision to spare his wife and the renewal of their love.

Question 18

How is the city represented in “Sunrise”?

Answer 18

As a place of decadence and fascination, merging European and American city elements.

Question 19

When does the camera become subjective in “Sunrise”?

Answer 19

When the Man meets the Woman from the City, the tracking shot becomes subjective.

Question 20

What was the financial outcome of “Sunrise” despite its critical acclaim?

Answer 20

The film failed to recoup costs at the Box Office.