In the silent horror film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) directed by Robert Wiene, there is a good sense of form and content. The film starts off with the blue color atmosphere which conveys the feeling of a horror film. In colors, any variations of blue represent the sense of coolness. If an artist wants to portray a cold night in his/her painting, he/she would use the color blue. For as the variation of color from red to yellow portray the sense of warmth. To convey these feelings, the colors were incorporated in the film to bring out the creepy feeling at the beginning where the older man stated that there are ghosts around them. Without the blue coloring the viewer wouldn’t get the sense of coldness or feel the chill of the night. If it’s in pure black and white then the viewer can only rely on the words they see on the screen instead of feeling the cold night of the horror film.
Cold Night
Warm Evening
Not only does the toning of colors contribute to the sense of eeriness but also the setting. If it’s set in a plain smooth setting then it wouldn’t be as scary as a setting where there are bare tree and bushes. This keeps the audience guessing and wondering, where anything can suddenly emerge from the tree or from behind the bushes or can emerge from any angle and any corner of the screen.
The color suddenly changes from blue to yellow after it transition into a new event. This yellow color gives a sense of warmth, letting the viewer see that it is now day time. Along with the music and how the actors are acting, it contributes to the tense atmosphere, giving a sign that something is going to happen. Also the angle of the walls are diagonal, it emphasis a lot on the diagonal lines. If the buildings or walls are all vertical, the film would be boring and won’t give out the sense of uncanny which this film is suppose to be. The form and content of this film worked well together to convey the theme of horror to the audience with less dialogue and without spoken words.
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