CSULB Symphony Orchestra scores with Nosferatu'

Movies • "Nosferatu," directed in 1922 by F.W. Murnau, was shown at the school's recent Widescreen Film Festival while the Cal State Long Beach Symphony Orchestra performed the score to it. WidescreenFilmFestival.org

 

By Austin Lewis
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

It's always fun — and perhaps a bit frightening — to watch classic horror movies in the days leading up to Halloween. It's even better if you can find a place to watch one of these movies on a big screen with several of your friends. Add in a live performance of the movie's score and your night of horrors will be complete.

This is exactly what was planned Saturday night at the Carpenter Center. "Nosferatu" was the movie, and the CSULB Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Richard Rintoul, performed the score. The event was part of the 10th Annual Widescreen Film Festival, hosted by the CSULB Department of Film and Electronic Arts. The festival screened 13 movies over the past week, including classics such as "Frankenstein" and "Nightmare on Elm Street," and more recent horror flicks, such as the "Scream" trilogy.

"Nosferatu," released in 1922, is widely accepted as the first vampire movie. It is a silent film, but it is still considered ahead of its time for many reasons. One of the things "Nosferatu" is famous for is quickly jumping back and forth between two scenes to show that they are occurring simultaneously, which was a technique that was unheard of at the time the movie was made. "Nosferatu" is also one of the first films that was shot primarily on location, instead of on poorly constructed sets. This allowed "Nosferatu" to make use of shadows and dark spaces to create its frightening moods.

The story of "Nosferatu" should be familiar to most horror fans, as it is a basic retelling of "Dracula," the Bram Stoker novel. (F.W. Murnau, director of "Nosferatu," and others involved with the project were unable to acquire the official rights to the "Dracula" story from Stoker's widow.) The names have been changed, but it is easy to tell who each "Nosferatu" character is really supposed to be.

In "Nosferatu," Thomas Hutter travels to Transylvania with plans to convince Count Orlock to move into a house located right across the street from where he and his wife, Ellen, live. Orlock comes to town on a boat, and the local residents are led to believe that a plague has hit. Mass panic ensues as the residents try to survive. Ellen finds a book among Thomas' belongings, and she discovers what needs to be done in order to destroy Orlock.

"Nosferatu" uses passages from books and letters to effectively share details of the story with the audience, and the few lines of dialogue that are displayed on screen aren't a distraction.

Many of these lines drew laughter, including Ellen getting mad at Thomas for killing flowers to give to her as a gift and Thomas mistaking fang marks for mosquito bites.

Silent films rely heavily on the score to let the audience know what is happening, and the live performance of the score gave "Nosferatu" a new life. The opening scenes of the film benefited most from the live accompaniment. The music is light and happy when the focus is on Thomas and Ellen in town, but it quickly turns dark when there is news that Orlock is coming. The dark music seems to end as quickly as it begins, and then the music is light and flowing again.

The live score made it easier to feel the emotions that the characters were feeling. The chilling theme played by the violins at the first mention of Nosferatu is one of many examples. Also, the driving beat from the snare drums and the pounding of piano keys each time a coffin would open helped the audience sense the nervousness that the characters were feeling.

This year's Widescreen Film Festival has come to a close, but based on what I saw this weekend, I will make every effort to attend future Widescreen Film Festival events. I hope some upcoming events will also include a live accompaniment, as what I saw — and heard — with—"Nosferatu" on Saturday is an experience that I look forward to having again and again.