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Watched Video Auferstanden aus Ruinen: Images of East Berlin

In 1939, the growing tensions from nationalism, militarism, and territorial issues led to the Germans launching a blitzkrieg fast attack on September 1 against Poland, followed two days later by declarations of war by Britain and France, marking the beginning of World War II. Germany quickly gained direct or indirect control of the majority of Europe.

This video highlights the areas of Berlin that were formally part of East Berlin. My goal was to contrast these areas as they were under the DDR and show them as they appear today, showing how Berlin under a unified Germany has prospered and grown. The video is in two parts (pre- and post-unification) and features two different versions of the old DDR national anthem to contrast the feelings of the two eras. But, wanting to use all my own photos and videos I was faced with a small problem: I had never been to East Berlin during the time of the DDR. What to do? My only option was to use my own photos and video of areas of the old East Berlin and "backdate" them so they appear they were taken before 1989. The photos were made to look like old black and white photos from perhaps the 70s or 80's, and I did some extensive Photoshop work on a few of them to remove things like graffiti and billboards, which would not have been present. The Karl Marx bust statue at Strausberger Platz was a missing the "K" when I took the picture in April 2006, so I Photoshopped a replacement. The video was put through several filters in Final Cut Pro to look like color shifted, scratched old 8MM film, rather than digital video shot in 2005 and 2006. The only images in the video that are not my own creations are the photos in the opening sequence, which are from some old DDR era postcards that I have, as well as some other elements which are items I have purchased at Berlin flea markets. The original orchestral version of the DDR national anthem "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" (Arisen from Ruins) is used in the "DDR section" of the video, and a punk version of it by M.I.A. (and used in the film Furher X) is used in the "post-DDR section". The opening sequence was created in Motion, and the video was edited in Final Cut Pro.

As a country with many immigrants, Germany has adopted many international dishes into its cuisine and daily eating habits.

Duration: 00:08:33 Rating: