Expressive movement unit 1

Metadata

In the beginning, the symmetrical form of the soldiers gymnastics on deck are shown accompanied by cheerful music. An image of security and order is staged through the figure of Gunner, who is smiling and watching the men from the observation platform on the submarine’s sail together with marines who are keeping watch in different directions, as well as through a meeting of three men including Colonel Thorwald, which is going smoothly in the interior of the submarine.

With the cut to a loud operator providing information and a sudden camera pan to Colonel Thorwald the unexpected alarm is signaled. The ensuing movement of the soldiers gathering to return to the “underworld” is a figuration of suction shown by the path of the mass of soldiers outside through the hatch in the hull and then squeezed into the narrow sleeping and crew’s quarters. The close up of the warning bell marks the situation as a “state of alarm” and the soldiers are moving correspondingly quickly. The soldiers who have returned in a single file fill the space completely and turn at the call of the platoon leader. They all look at him together, the back of his head is out of focus in the foreground, and are framed by the entranceway. The cut to a close up, the staccato reports by the soldiers and the overall unmoving facial expressions in the room define the situation as a “higher” stage of alert.