Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin, for example, claimed that words were thematically inadequate, despite silent cinema's use of intertitles to make narrative connections between shots. Well, the strictest answer to that question is that two or three shots joined in a certain order become much more than the sum of their individual parts when put together. But the 'formulas' at the basis of these highest stages of manifestation, independent of the areas themselves, are identical."[18]. As such, abstract films defamiliarize objects and have the potential to create critical spectators. We must view this not as a shortcoming, but as a serious, long-range experiment. Vertov, concerned with machinery, movement and labor, universalized Kino-eye's strategy of constant critique, with little room for empathy and nuance. As such, identification was mainly concerned with calculating a consistent theme structure and making sure images were smoothly shot and seamlessly edited. So much of what we know today was pioneered by people experimenting and doing what they can to create cinema. Therefore, there is a revolutionary thrust to this kind of film making. It was developed creatively after 1925 by the Russian Sergei Eisenstein; since that time montage has become an increasingly complex and inventive way … Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was a Soviet film director and film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. Because the pictures are relating to each other, their collision creates the meaning of the "writing". Down with the staging of everyday life! In other words, a filmmaker creates a rhythm in film through juxtaposition between the shots (from "The Theories of Montage", Vol 2, by Sergei Eisenstein, 1991). As such, Sach argued, a psychological montage was recognizable in all films, even abstract ones which held no resemblance to classic Soviet cinema. It's from Man with a Movie Camera by Dziga Vertov, who isn't mentioned in the article. Realization is in the repetition of these "measures" " (Eisenstein, 1949). He thereby creates a film metaphor: assaulted workers = slaughtered bull. It was no surprise that most of the Soviet film theorists were also filmmakers. It also makes a social comment on bullying issues among contemporary society. According to Columbia Electronic Encyklopedia : Montage (montäzh', Fr. Kino-eye, composed of various newsreel correspondents, editors, and directors, also took indirect aim at montage as the overarching principle of cinema. Who Is Sergei Eisenstein, and What Was Soviet Montage Theory? It is a cognitive event in which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. In a follow up to The Resolution of the Council of Three, April 10, 1923, Kino-eye published an excerpt decrying American cinema's reliance on humanness as a benchmark for filmmaking, rather than treating the camera as an eye itself. He is well-known for his silent films ‘October: Ten Days That Shook The World,’ ‘Strike,’ and ‘Battleship Potemkin,’ which was critically acclaimed across the globe. "We cannot improve the making of our eyes, but we can endlessly perfect the camera." More about Soviet montage (including Vertov) on my site here: https://www.learnaboutfilm.com/soviet-montage/, February 16, 2021 at 4:39AM, Edited February 16, 4:40AM. Zygmunt's argument centers around his disagreement with Eisenstein that montage was logical, but rather psychological. It's 100+ pages on what you need to know to make beautiful, inexpensive movies using a DSLR. The basis of this philosophy is the dynamic conception of objects: being as a constant evolution from the interaction between two contradictory opposites. This film was created by Eisenstein to foster revolutionary propaganda,  but also used it to test his theories of montage. Eisenstein's theories did not die with him but changed cinema forever. The production of films—how and under what conditions they are made—was of crucial importance to Soviet leadership and filmmakers. Identification is the capacity for the audience to fully comprehend the theme of a film. According to prominent Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein, there are five different types within Soviet Montage Theory: Metric, Rhythmic, Tonal, Overtonal and Intellectual. Soviet theorists had a clear job before them: theorize in order to aid the cause of the Communist Party. During the 1920s, filmmakers in the Soviet Union used it as a synonym for creative editing. All Rights Reserved. Soviet filmmakers, Blackmagic Releases Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, Blackmagic, I Love You, but Let's Move On From EF Mount. Sergei Eisenstein, a well-known Russian filmmaker famous for his theories of montage, has once said that the "narrative always proceeds with an eye towards rhythm". Confined to the project of Soviet expansion, film theorists of the USSR cared little for questions of meaning. While many filmmakers just shot wide shots of the action, Soviet montage theory cut together shorter shots to build a story. Films like Dziga Vertov's The Man with a Movie Camera utilized montage (almost all films did at the time), but packaged images without discernible political connection between shots. When filmmakers were first pioneering how to create movies and elicit emotions from the audience, they experimented with lots of different editing styles. Here, they are combating a premature synthesis of forms. What's Behind the Success of 'Ted Lasso'? When it is possible to film easily and comfortably, without having to consider either location, or the light conditions, then the authentic flowering of the non-fictional film will take place, depicting our environment, our construction, our land. Additionally, Kuleshov expressed the subservience of montage to the will of those who deploy it. His first film, Glumov's Diary (for the theatre production Wise Man), was also made in that same year with Dziga Vertov hired initially as an instructor. Sergei Eisenstein Montage Theory The Concept of Montage Montage is a technique in film editing in which a series of shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information. [9] Eisenstein's later work (Alexander Nevsky [1938] and Ivan the Terrible [1944–1946]), would undercut his earlier film's appeal to masses by locating the narrative on a single individual. Alfred Hitchcock cites editing (and montage indirectly) as the lynchpin of worthwhile filmmaking. This differs entirely from even the most conservative interpretations of montage in the Soviet Union, wherein time is subordinate to the collision of images and their symbolic meaning. He used intellectual montage in his feature films (such as Battleship Potemkin and October) to portray the political situation surrounding the Bolshevik Revolution. He was a pioneer in the practice and theory of montage. [8] Despite this, both nations produced films that used something tantamount to continuity editing. Rather than assume the position of humanness, Kino-eye sought to breakdown movement in its intricacies, thereby liberating cinema from bodily limitations and providing the basis from which montage could fully express itself. So without further ado, let's cut together some answers and explanations. Finally, Eisenstein identifies the dialectical process as the precipitating force for unearthing pathos. Soviet filmmakers disagreed about how exactly to view montage. Down with the bourgeois fairy-tale script! Here’s an example below of the “metric” montage from Eisenstein’s film October: Ten Days … What Are the 10+ Best Villain Monologues? In it, he said that montage is "the nerve of cinema," and that "to determine the nature of montage is to solve the specific problem of cinema.". Like Potemkin, The General Line invoked the theme of "collective unity" within a community. © 2021 NONETWORK, LLC. Soviet Montage Theory is a film movement that took place in Soviet Russia during the 1910’s, 20’s and into the early 30’s. In this sense, the montage will in fact form thoughts in the minds of the viewer, and is therefore a powerful tool for propaganda. The nature of the effects achieved is different. By showing our revolutionary way of life, we will wrest that weapon from the enemy's hands. In the 1930s his style changed, partly to accommodate the arrival of sound, and … In the realm of art this dialectical principle of the dynamic is embodied in, as the essential basic principle of the existence of every work of art and every form.[42]. So early in film theory’s history, his place was to stake out a position rather than to converse too much with others, because there weren’t that many others writing at this time. A montage is a narrative technique that shows sequences of action but not restrained by time. Basic knowledge of Film Theory could be your ticket to making a compelling argument, a classic film, or winning at Jeopardy. does the montage theory of editing propagate, As we mentioned earlier, everyone in the early 1900s was trying to define what filmmaking could be. The effect that he wished to produce was not simply to show images of people's lives in the film but more importantly to shock the viewer into understanding the reality of their own lives. Concepts similar to intellectual montage would arise during the first half of the 20th century, such as Imagism in poetry (specifically Pound's Ideogrammic Method), or Cubism's attempt at synthesizing multiple perspectives into one painting.