Week 7

After running my idea to focus on cuisine and atmosphere by Eric, it came to realization that, though an interesting aspect of Berlin to examine, it may be too complex and difficult to effectively and properly convey all of its components within such a small block of film. This is considering that I was in fact actually able to complete the footage in time. So, we began from scratch and brainstormed as to what the underlying aims of our film were. We need to create two characters that embody groups of people. We need to create a relationship that symbolizes our experiences in Berlin. We need to create a construction of Berlin for the characters. Well, the one aim that has not been addressed yet is the construction of Berlin. This entails finding a place, or context, for the film and the story’s components through location and set design, which so many films have performed so well. This will, in effect, create a sense of place for the audience. By achieving a meaningful set, we can solve the issue of our objective to avoid creating a film that just happens to be in Berlin when we want the film to be about Berlin. Thus, my part of the film will be to pick out settings of the city at which the fiction film will be shot.
This task has proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. It made me become aware of the things I walk by everyday and take for granted. I began to look for meaning and significance in my own setting. What did I walk by each day that truly gave me a sense of place? There are the obvious landmarks, such as the TV Tower or Brandenburg Gate, but do these really represent any aspect of the fictional relationship in our film? Or for that matter, does it represent any aspect of my experiences in Berlin?
We were fortunate to have Wolfgang Kohlhaase, a famous Berlin movie screenwriter with an incredibly interesting background. Many of his films revolve around characters that embody young individuals of the different social classes in Berlin and their interactions with each other and the city. He is able to implement into his stories very effective settings to create a meaningful backdrop for the movie.
I inquired as to the basis of his decision for Schoenhauser Corner as the setting for his most famous film Ecke Schoenhauser, to maybe get an idea of his thought process for choosing setting. He answered with a sense that it was almost obvious and hadn’t really taken much thought at the time. The city had been mostly in rubble during it’s filming (post-war period), and that intersection was one of the few untouched spots in Berlin. He also liked how the intersection looked, a standard four-way with a diagonal cutting through. It happened to be a popular hang out spot with a lot going on and a variety of shops, cafés, and buildings. There was no other place better to shoot. The most important thing to consider is that the setting is not too strong for the story. This prompted me to be a bit more open-minded to what a location in Berlin can represent. I decided to begin by analyzing our “book end” settings and offer alternatives locations to the scenes.
The screening and reading this week gave me an appreciation for the opportunity I have been given, despite the frustrations of developing a solid idea for the film. The reading, “The Documentary Work of Juergen Boettcher” by Kilborn, and Boettcher’s film Die Mauer really brought attention to the hardships that filmmakers in the former GDR experienced. Boettcher enjoyed documenting “mysterious” subjects, but unfortunately the GDR government did not approve of such films. In their eyes, something mysterious was open to more than one interpretation, and propaganda, which they saw film serve only, must be one-dimensional to achieve its persuasive aim. Clearly, he disagreed with art’s position in a socialist society. The opening of Die Mauer with birds flying freely above the wall and its closing with the sound of free birds may be a symbolic statement of his to represent his newly established artistic freedom with the fall of the wall.
Wolfgang Kohlhaase experienced similar pressure, though he learned how to adapt and create films that served the government’s propaganda agenda as well as his own artistic motives. There were, however, a few films that were blacklisted still. Clause referred to Kohlhaase and the director he worked with as “rebels with a cause.” We may not have a cause per say, but we can film what we want in Berlin now.