I recently read in a vintage article interviewing George O'Brien that the storm scenes were not filmed in a tank in the studio as most viewers speculate and as I believe John Bailey mentions on the Sunrise DVD that contains his commentary. According to the article..." The much celebrated storm sequence was photographed in night in a Los Angeles reservoir - not a studio tank - by Charles Rosher and Karl Struss."
shareInteresting, I thought it was a tank, too.
Any idea on how Murnau did the scene when they are walking through the traffic, right after they leave the church? Because the background scenery keeps changing and in those years they didn't use chroma key yet, so how did he do it? It's probably pretty simple, but I just can't figure it out...
If you can get your hands on the Fox Studio Classics version of the SUnrise DVD, it comes with bonus features including a commentary by John Bailey. He narrates during the film and describes how certain of the picture were filmed, including the scene you mention, plus George's walk through the swamp and the trolley scene. Most facinating. He remarks in the street crossing scene when the horns are blasting and people yelling there is one little spot where the camera shakes - probably the only flaw in this great filming sequence. If you don't have this DVD, let me know and I can excerpt part of it that you are mentioning and post it on YouTube. THANKS
shareThat would be great! I own the Portuguese version of the DVD (I'm Portuguese) and we have really poor extras. It's just a documentary about Murnau and some cut scenes. No audio commentary. I would appreciate if you could do that or, if it is too much work, just explain what he says about the sequence. That would be enough to make me happy.
It's really a remarkable film, but that particular scene keeps crossing my mind.
Someone else has posted the entirety of Sunrise in 10-minute pieces on YouTube.
If you go to approximately minute 2:40 in this sequence you will see the street scene, and the jumping of the camera happens at 3:19 right after the guy flips over the bicycle and right before the guy in the car honks the horn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_BBf_bP16A&feature=PlayList&p= 0FFF3284233770CC&index=4
....Yes, the background shifts a touch to the left at that moment.
....I've always felt that Welles borrowed the background with the willow trees for the "garden scene" with Cotten & Baxter in "The Magnificent Ambersons".