The Gold Rush

Charlie Chaplin, USA, 1925

Comment

Chaplin created this storm sequence without any reference to realism. He used a model for the exterior shots. This model, is then slid and pivoted along false snow. The shot of the house suspended in the void at the peak of the rock is clearly a drawing, which he didn’t even try to animate. The interior of the cabin was created in a studio and is more like a theatrical set rather than realistic interior. The stalactites are clearly false and part of the set, as is the frost on the squares of the window. To give the illusion that the house is moving like Charlie, he moves the camera to the right and the left, allowing the viewer to feel that the cabin is swinging in the void. The power of falsehoods.

Keywords

shelter.