Cops (Buster Keaton, 1922)

Realism

• A level of authenticity is achieved through the background activity that can be seen in each shot. In a lot of the shots In this film, cars can be seen driving past in the background as well as people walking around the streets. The presentation of  everyday lives taking place parallel to the events we are focusing on highlights the idea that the film exists in a reality of sorts.
• Multiple aspects of the lives of 1920s American citizens are presented in this film. One man who appears to be unemployed and struggling to earn money tricks Keaton into giving him money; not only does this highlight the rising levels of unemployment in the 1920s, it also hints at the corruption of the contemporary society. Similarly, Keaton’s character appears to be on a quest to become a businessman in order to win the heart of a woman in a higher class than him, the prospects of social mobility that are presented reflect the growing ideals of economic prosperity in the 1920s and the American Dream of becoming successful.
• The parade that is showcased in the film is made more realistic by the masses of crowds surrounding the marching soldiers. The extreme scale of the event presents it as a more public and therefore authentic setting. It also portrays the patriotic values of America.
  

Expressionism

• On a couple of occasions during this film, Keaton uses a fade to black to show the passage of time; this is used when we see the man begin to pile furniture onto the cart before the screen fades to black only to open again to a shot showing the cart completely full. The technique is used to avoid the audience becoming bored but even so is expressionistic as we are not given an authentic display of time passing and instead uses editing to develop this understanding in the audience.
• A running joke throughout this film is the chase between the cops and Keaton and it is noticeable that the incompetence of the officers is exaggerated for humorous effects. In multiple scenes the cops seem to fall over each other, in one scene two officers hit each other accidentally instead of hitting Keaton and in another he outsmarts masses of cops by hiding inside of a building causing them to run straight past him and each other.
• One aspect of expressionism that differs to realism is the use of editing for effects, in Cops the frequency of the edits increases as the chase sequence progresses in order to increase the pace of the events. Editing is specifically used to encourage a specific response from the audience.

The High Sign (Buster Keaton, 1921)

Realism

• The High Sign focuses on “The Blinking Blizzards” who appear to be a 1920s gang. The representation of gangs in this film is realistic to the time period as the disillusionment felt by ex-soldiers after World War I led to many taking on violent and corrupt lifestyles as they struggled to re-join conventional society.
• Early 20th century social conventions are also portrayed accurately in this film through the juxtaposition of the exterior surroundings of the poor and the rich. The upper class elderly gentleman and his daughter appear to live in a rich home that carries a luxurious essence due to the posh furniture and butler working for them whereas the working class men hideout in the basement of a shooting range in a room that is scarcely furnished and dusty.
• The gentleman’s house is full of moving walls and trap doors which is undoubtedly unwonted; however, these traps cannot be deemed unrealistic or expressionistic as we watch them get constructed and are shown how they work. The traps and moving walls, whilst unusual, have been achieved authentically rather than through expressionistic film elements such as editing or effects.
  

Expressionism

• Exaggerated mise-en-scene is used in a sequence showing Keaton struggle with a newspaper that appears to be never-ending as it continuously unfolds for comedic effect.
• After the butler tips an unknown substance secretly into Keaton’s drink and he sips it, he looks into the cup and sees a reflection of a horse kicking its rear legs. The post-production effect is extremely expressionistic and is used to present the idea that the substance is causing Keaton to experience hallucinations.
• Towards the end of the film as the Blinking Blizzards members chase Keaton through the house, a shot appears to show 4 rooms at once. The frame is split into 4 quarters each showing a room in the house; the characters switch from one quarter of the frame to another by moving into each room. This unusual technique is being used to emphasise the gag of the house’s traps and also the repetitive routine the characters take from one room to another.

The Scarecrow (Buster Keaton, 1920)

Realism

• The costumes in the film strongly resemble the clothing worn by working class American citizens in the 1920s. The female in the film wears a dress whilst the men wear suit jackets and trousers.
• The world of the film mirrors reality to present it in a more authentic light. Throughout the film, the control of the patriarchy is shown. The woman in the film, despite being grown up, appears to still need her father’s permission to be involved with men; which is shown when he gets angry and Keaton and his co-star Joe Roberts for talking to his daughter and sends her back inside the house. She reflects the patriarchy in other ways including her participation in traditional female roles such as dancing, baking and being longed for by multiple men.
• Throughout The Scarecrow, an accurate portrayal of poverty and agriculture in 1920s America can be seen. Multiple empty Californian landscapes are seen as well as a wheat field full of various farming equipment such as a machine to thresh corn being operated by multiple working class men.The characters living conditions also reflect poverty as pigs eat their scraps and they life in a self-sufficient way. The dry dusty environments represent the growing presence of poverty and agriculture in 1920s America and realistically reflect the contexts of the world at the time.
  

Expressionism

• At the beginning of The Scarecrow, a title card with the words “Slowly and majestically the sun steals gradually over the hill-tops” and shortly after an extreme long shot of the sun rising is shown. The sun is clearly rising at an unrealistic, and astronomically incorrect, speed thus showing that exaggerated mise-en-scene is being used to manipulate reality.
• Several iris shots are used throughout this film such as when Roberts looking in the mirror before flipping it to reveal a photo of the woman next door. The iris shots focus the audience’s attention on one specific aspect thus controlling our interpretations as the shots are not subjective.
• Keaton uses exaggerated film elements to emphasise the gags made in the film. This is seen in the wide shot of Roberts sitting on the back of a car with two other men in the front, as he sits on the edge of the car it begins to tip backwards which is an example of expressionism as this would never happen in real life and is clearly being used to make a joke about his weight.

One Week (Buster Keaton, 1920)

Buster Keaton’s films feature aspects of fictional realism whilst also including expressionistic approaches for comedic effect.

Realism

• The opening wide shot of the film shows Keaton and his wife coming out of a church after their marriage is a static long shot; the lack of editing avoids controlling the audiences’s response.
• The editing that is used in the film is all for functional purposes rather than to create meaning; for example the opening shot cuts briefly to a close up of a new character before cutting to another long take of them getting in the car. Therefore the edits are used to advance the plot rather than have an effect on how the audience view the events.
• Keaton’s wife in the film is presented as the stereotypical American housewife through her costumes and performance as she makes breakfast in the morning for Keaton.
• The stunts performed in One Week, whilst extreme, are realistic in the sense that they are all carried out by Keaton himself rather than relying on editing or special effects to make them appears more impressive. For example when the ladder he is climbing comes away from the wall; his wife’s performance shows her to be shocked which furthers the realist portrayal as her reaction mirrors that of the audience.

Expressionism

• In the first sequence, we see a wide shot of them leaving a church after being married. Keaton uses the vignetting technique to act as a transition to the next sequence; the faded edges make the shot resemble a wedding photo. The use of editing to create meaning and provide information is an expressionistic technique.
• Exaggerated mise-en-scene is used to emphasise the fact the house they have built is badly constructed. For example when the house starts spinning or when the floor of the upstairs room begins descending as Keaton pulls with a wire from below until he releases the wire and the floor springs back into place thus presenting a disproportionate reality.
• Realism is abandoned entirely in a sequence showing the wife in the bath; she looks directly at the camera before climbing out before a hand covers the lens to suggest that we shouldn’t be watching her in this private moment. The scene breaks the fourth wall.