Eugen Schüfftan
Eugen Julius Schüfftan (in the USA also Eugen Schuefftan ; * July 21, 1886 in Breslau , † September 6, 1977 in New York ) was a German cameraman and inventor . Together with Ernst Kunstmann, he developed the Schüfftan process , a mirror trick process mainly used in films from the 1920s, which was used in particular to depict seemingly monstrous backdrops in Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1927). Schüfftan was the cameraman in charge of the style-defining documentary People on Sunday (1929) and in important films of French poetic realism of the 1930s , such as Hafen im Nebel (1938).
Life
Schüfftan began his career in Berlin as a painter of impressionist pictures, then turned to expressionism and then worked as an architect and decorative painter.
The artist came to film via detours. His fascination for the camera and camera technology led him to the mirror trick process, later named after him, which became famous in 1924 with Fritz Lang's film epic Die Nibelungen and in whose Metropolis (1927) it was first used on a large scale: the arrangement of one or more partially transparent mirrors allowed To depict miniature models behind actors as huge structures. Eugen Schüfftan initially became technical director at "Deutsche Spiegeltechnik GmbH & Co.", but after a few years handed over his post to the film architect Fritz Maurischat in order to devote himself to working as a cameraman again.
In 1930 Schüfftan was the cameraman in charge of the documentary People on Sunday, directed by Robert Siodmak and Billy Wilder . When the National Socialists came to power , his work was soon severely restricted. Schüfftan emigrated to France, where he shot with Marcel Carné ( A strange case , port in the fog ), among others . After the occupation of France , he emigrated to the USA, where he was able to continue his work.
In 1962 he received an Oscar for best cameraman for the film Sharks of the Big City . His trick techniques were later used in the films The Voyages of Odysseus and in Captain Sindbad, among others .
Eugen Schüfftan died on September 6, 1977 at the age of 91 in New York.
Awards
- 1951: Prix du Tourisme Français for L'Hotel-Dieu de Beaune
- 1962: Oscar for Best Camera in a Black and White Film for City Sharks
- 1962: Laurel Awards : Golden Laurel in the category Best Camera in a Black and White Film for Sharks of the Big City
- 1964: Filmband in gold for many years of outstanding work in German film
- 1975: Billy Bitzer Award : Award for life's work
Filmography (selection)
- 1924: The Nibelungs
- 1925: jealousy
- 1926: Manon Lescaut
- 1927: Metropolis
- 1927: Napoleon
- 1929: Into the blue
- 1930: People on Sunday
- 1930: Farewell
- 1930: the stolen face
- 1931: The disgust
- 1931: My wife, the impostor
- 1931: street hit
- 1931: I prefer cod liver oil
- 1932: Gypsies of the Night
- 1932: The Hieflau water devils
- 1932: The mistress of Atlantis
- 1933: The runner of Marathon
- 1933: Invisible opponents
- 1933: Du haut en bas
- 1935: The Invader
- 1936: Robber Symphony (The Robber Symphony)
- 1937: a strange case (Drôle de drame)
- 1937: Yoshiwara
- 1938: Harbor in the Fog (Le quai des brumes)
- 1938: Le drame de Shanghai
- 1939: Without a Tomorrow (Sans lendemain)
- 1939: L'Émigrante
- 1939: Les Musiciens du ciel
- 1943: Hitler's Madman (anonymous)
- 1944: Summer storms (Summer Storm) (uncredited)
- 1944: It Happened Tomorrow (It Happened Tomorrow)
- 1945: Voice from Beyond (Strange Illusion)
- 1946: An elegant crook (A Scandal in Paris)
- 1948: Women in the Night
- 1952: The smugglers' banquet ( Le Banquet des fraudeurs )
- 1953: The Venus from Tivoli
- 1955: The journeys of Odysseus (Ulisse)
- 1959: With your head against the walls (La Tête contre les murs)
- 1960: Eyes without a face (Les Yeux sans visage)
- 1961: Sharks of the Big City (The Hustler)
- 1961: Something Wild
- 1963: Captain Sindbad ( Captain Sindbad )
- 1964: Fear in the City (La Cité de l'indicible peur)
- 1964: Lilith
- 1965: Three rooms in Manhattan (Trois chambres à Manhattan)
- 1966: Charged under Section 218
- 1966: Chappaqua
literature
- Wolfgang Jacobsen: Schüfftan, Eugen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , p. 634 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. P. 446 ff., ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8
Web links
- Explanation of the Schüfftan process on Peplumania.com
- Literature by and about Eugen Schüfftan in the catalog of the German National Library
- Eugen Schüfftan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Eugen Schüfftan in the database of Find a Grave (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : The large personal dictionary of the film , Volume 7, p. 187. Berlin 2001 Criticism
- ↑ Kay Less: In life, more is taken from you than is given ... Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria 1933 to 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 446.
- ↑ Life data on ancestry.com
- ↑ Eugen Schüfftan. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
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↑ Example: The stadium, in which a “competition of the sons” takes place, is flanked by statues, which according to the script should be 14 meters high and placed on 8 meter high plinths. The models used, however, were only around 20 cm tall (statement by film architect Erich Kettelhut , quoted in arte, “Die Reise nach Metropolis”, 2010).
The stadium sequence was cut out of the film as early as 1927.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Schüfftan, Eugene |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schüfftan, Eugen Julius (full name); Schuefftan, Eugen; Schufftan, Eugen; Schufftan, E .; Shuftan, Eugene; Shuftan, Eugene |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German cameraman and inventor |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 21, 1886 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Wroclaw |
DATE OF DEATH | September 6, 1977 |
Place of death | new York |