METROPOLIS
Film Synopsis:
Sometime in the future, the city of Metropolis is home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a carefree life. One of those is Freder Fredersen. One day, he spots a beautiful woman with a group of children, she and the children quickly disappear. Trying to follow her, he is horrified to find an underground world of workers who apparently run the machinery that keeps the Utopian world above ground functioning. One of the few people above ground who knows about the world below is Freder's father, John Fredersen, who is the founder and master of Metropolis. Freder learns that the woman is called Maria, who espouses the need to join the "hands" - the workers - to the "head" - those in power above - by a mediator who will act as the "heart". Freder wants to help the plight of the workers in their struggle for a better life. But when John learns of what Maria is advocating and that Freder has joined their cause, with the assistance of an old colleague. an inventor called Rotwang, who turns out to be But their nemesis goes to works towards quashing a proposed uprising, with Maria at the centre of their plan. John, unaware that Rotwang has his own agenda, makes plans that include shutting down the machines, with the prospect of unleashing total anarchy both above and below ground.
Themes
- Disparity between the Lower and Upper Classes
- Unity and Ideology
- Revolution
- Subjugation
- Deception
The Tower of Babel - 18:53
- The Tower of Babel scene is a long/wide shot of the above ground ‘upper class’ city - It is the only time the audience is shown the city in such detail
- Individuals within the scene is lacking however there is a sense of scale within the scene; The sheer size of the structures of the upper class as well as the design of the structures.
- Pure disparity between the upper and lower classes are shown in full force - previous scenes took us to the underground displaying its hell-like and monotonous environment.
- It is further accentuated through the sense of freedom we see within the scenes. The underground city has a ‘ceiling’ which signifies the underlying lack of freedom the lower class truly has. In comparison the scene of the Tower of Babel shows the sky and even beyond - with the actual tower in the background being covered by clouds and very far back in the background. The sheer size of the architecture is intimidating
Through the use of Taxonomy, I was able to seperate the the most important parts of the scene. I was able to come to the realisation that this scene creates a forced perspective view unto the Tower of Babel. The buildings to the sides create some form of triangle that focuses all it's attention on the the Tower.
My attempt at recreating the scene through the use of Rhino's camera feature and Perspective View
