Dutch corner in the art of cinema and photography

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:40

Today, in the film industry and in the art of photography, there are many different artistic techniques. All of them are necessary so that the authors of films or photographs can indirectly convey the idea or initial idea to the viewer. It is the use of interesting creative methods that is one of the components of the director's or photographer's own style.

In this article you will learn about such a technique as the "Dutch corner" and you can clearly see examples of such work.

The essence of artistic technique

Agree, if all directors and photographers filmed what is in front of their eyes, we would hardly be interested. That is why there are many expressive means (visual, sound, psychological, etc.) to help us understand what the author wanted to show. Artistic techniques are needed in order to emphasize the dynamics and atmosphere of the frame,focus on a particular detail and emphasize one or another element. The most popular types of creative techniques are as follows:

• mizanabeem, or "an object within an object" (for example, when in a film, in addition to the main plot, the characters tell a story from the past);
• long shot (as a rule, using this technique, the film is shot in one take);
• one location (this technique is suitable for thrillers or horror films);
• silent movies;
• unusual frame proportions (mainly in documentaries);
• First or third person shooting.

It is not enough for the audience to see just a quality product on the cinema screens. The film should catch the viewer with the depth of the plot and the dynamics of the frame, evoke all kinds of emotions and leave a pleasant aftertaste.

What is a "Dutch Corner"

This technique denotes the angle of inclination of a photo or frame from five to ninety degrees, visually it looks like the effect of a littered horizon. Most often, this creative method is used in horror films or film noir. In addition to the film industry, artists also use the Dutch angle in photography, which helps create unusual compositions with fairly recognizable objects in the frame (for example, a photo of the Eiffel Tower from the bottom up).

The history of the origin of the German corner

In fact, the Dutch corner is not Dutch at all, but German. This effect arose during the First World War, when the naval blockade of the allied countries did everything possible,to prevent Germany from exporting German films. Unlike Hollywood cinema, where directors continually made films about a beautiful and happy life in America, the German film industry and literature sank into the expressionist style popular at that time, trying to emphasize the turmoil of life during the First World War. Expressionist films often de alt with betrayal, suicide, psychosis, terror, and other dark mental states. It was during this period that filmmakers saw how to emphasize the various states of the characters with a simple effect of a littered horizon.

But in English the word Deutsch (German) is very similar to Dutch (Dutch). Hence the confusion.

Later this technique was adopted by famous photographers, and more and more works began to appear at world exhibitions that expressed drama with the Dutch angle.

In the late 1930s, the technique of German expressionism came to Hollywood. The Dutch angle came to be used by pioneering directors such as James Keats in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and John Huston in The M altese Falcon (1941). Even the famous master of the horror genre Alfred Hitchcock used this technique in one of his films called The Shadow of a Doubt (1943). More recent films using the Dutch angle include Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Batman Begins (2005), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Doubt (2008), and Starlight. way" "(2010).

Applying this effect

UseDutch angle in cinema to evoke many emotions in the viewer, such as fear, anxiety, laughter, embarrassment, or even make him feel a slight disorientation similar to intoxication. All this helps to increase psychological stress and does not leave the viewer indifferent after watching the film. This technique can be used to emphasize the following elements or feelings:

• transfer to another dimension;
• opposition of heroes;
• chaotic reality;
• special atmosphere and frame dynamics;
• exposure to illegal drugs or the hero's state of intoxication;
• crazy;
• voltage;
• changing the state of objects.

It's worth noting that the Dutch angle is an effective creative method, but overuse is not always appropriate.

Examples of work with a littered horizon

Examples of the Dutch angle in photography will help you visually evaluate the effectiveness of this method. You can see them below.

The Dutch corner is one of the most expressive and memorable techniques of artists. Feel free to take a camera and create dynamic portraits of your friends, landscapes, take pictures of the beautiful architecture of your city.