Skyscraper Symphony
 | This article has an unclear citation style. (November 2023) |
| Skyscraper Symphony | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Florey |
Release date |
|
Running time | 9 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent |
Skyscraper Symphony (1929) is an avant-garde silent short film by French-American filmmaker Robert Florey.[1] The film was shot in the early morning hours in New York City. It captured skyscrapers which, by the late 1920s had become a global trademark of the city and became a representation of the ever-developing technologies in America, as well as the rapid growth of capitalism. Florey's focus on the booming metropolitan in the post-World War I era has solidified this film as a "city symphony," and he draws upon his own experience as a tourist in America to capture the excitement and uncertainty of being in New York City.
Synopsis
[edit | edit source]The film consists of a sequence of low-angle shots of skyscrapers in Manhattan. The beginning and end of the film's shots are primarily static, with one shot fading slowly into the next. The middle portion of the film has abrupt and rapid cuts between shots, with the camera capturing the buildings in shaky, canted movements.[2]
Reception
[edit | edit source]Musicologist Hannah Lewis has compared the "striking angles, zooms, panning, and unsteady camera angles" which "disorient" viewers of Skyscraper Symphony to techniques used by montage theorists.[3]
References
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Bibliography
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Skyscraper Symphony is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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- 1929 films
- 1929 short films
- 1920s American films
- 1920s avant-garde and experimental films
- American avant-garde and experimental films
- American black-and-white films
- American silent short films
- City symphony
- Films about architecture
- Films directed by Robert Florey
- Films set in New York City
- Surviving American silent films