VM100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Soviet Montage Theory, Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov
1 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
VM100
Semester #1 Lecture 7
Prof. Michael Selig
Soviet Montage Cinema
-Economic productivity was supposed to promise a better future
-Early 1920s and 1930s
-A cinema of short takes
!
POLITICAL CONTEXT:
1917- Bolshevik revolution. Communist economy, Soviet ideology, Marxist philosophy.
-Films weren’t being made for profit! Owned by government, means of production
ARTISTIC CONTEXT: Russian formalism (especially constructivism and futuristic)
-Embracing modernity- “scientificize” aesthetics, futuristic, in the sense that you can “calculate”
art’s effect
Key Figures in Montage Cinema
1) Lev Kuleshov
2) Sergei Eisenstein
3) Dziga Vertov
Lev Kuleshov and Kuleshov Workshops
-Hollywood influences (Intolerance)
“Kuleshov Experiments”- Using POV shots to “calculate emotions”. EXAMPLE: Pic of guy then
shot of food= hunger. Shot of guy + shot of casket = Sadness
-Asks: “What do you think of the actor?” and it is believed actor doing well even though its the
editing
-Tries to utilize scant resources during revolution
-Believes audience reactions and emotional connection depends on short takes and editing
Kuleshov workshop- Film lessons developed, first national film school
- Developed because of illiterate population of many languages trying to communicate
government changes and ideologies
Kuleshov theorizes that each shot has two “values” (ways to communicate meaning to
spectator): REPRESENTATIONAL VALUE (content of shot) and RELATIONAL VALUE
(juxtaposition of shots to other shots)
-Still, usually stories are bourgeois. Often people learning to embrace communism.
Sergei Eisenstein
-Argues that the only thing that values is the relationship of the shots
“Collective protagonist”- No individualized heroic subject in film. The Proletariat, who is about
bringing revolution, is the hero.
-ESSENTIALLY, films are the same genre as Griffith- historical melodrama with spectacular
action and happy ending
Eisenstein’s theory of montage: Dialectical montage, creates an impression of opposite shots
colliding: “THESIS AND ANTITHESIS”
-Eisenstein is trying to create a revolutionary film form so he appeals to the basis of Marxist
philosophy in dialectical montage
-Developing propaganda out of necessity to inform citizens and have them respond/engage
with gov’t. New phenomenon in the 20th century.
Document Summary
Economic productivity was supposed to promise a better future. Artistic context: russian formalism (especially constructivism and futuristic) Embracing modernity- scienti cize aesthetics, futuristic, in the sense that you can calculate art"s effect. Key figures in montage cinema: lev kuleshov, sergei eisenstein, dziga vertov. Kuleshov experiments - using pov shots to calculate emotions . Example: pic of guy then shot of food= hunger. Shot of guy + shot of casket = sadness. Asks: what do you think of the actor? and it is believed actor doing well even though its the editing. Believes audience reactions and emotional connection depends on short takes and editing. Kuleshov workshop- film lessons developed, rst national lm school. Developed because of illiterate population of many languages trying to communicate government changes and ideologies. Kuleshov theorizes that each shot has two values (ways to communicate meaning to spectator): representational value (content of shot) and relational value (juxtaposition of shots to other shots)
