Realism, Expressionism and Soviet Montage

Key terms:

Propaganda- information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view

Creative geography- Invented by Lev Kuleshov. The method of filming scenes at multiple locations or various times of the day but editing them in such a way that it appears to be one continuous location or time. Multiple locations shown within a montage but put together to appear seamless

Constructed reality (fiction or nonfiction) (Bazin)- the theory that the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.

Socialist realism- the theory of art, literature, and music officially sanctioned by the state in some Communist countries by which artistic work was supposed to reflect and promote the ideals of a socialist society.

Continuity principle- that all details in a film are consistent from shot to shot and from scene to scene- uninterrupted succession of events (classical Hollywood film)

Classic film: ELS, LS MS, CU etc

Verisimilitude- the appearance of being true or real (static camera, minimal editing, low budget, real location, real people)

Collision principle – two shots put together creates a whole new meaning (soviet film)

Key thinkers:

Kuleshov (Kuleshov effect) - Continuity principle, turns Kuleshov effect into action / reaction shots.

Sergei Eisenstein e.g. Battleship Potemkin – showcases the collision principle - innovative montage, he says ‘we do not need continuity’.Battleship Potemkin – Odessa steps sequence

Dziga Vertov- believes fiction films are worthless and only like non-fiction films. Celebrates Lenin as a great leader. “Fiction films are worthless – not creating reality was cinema not living up to its potential.” Uses the collision principle through montage editing

Pudovkin – continuity principle and action/reaction shots

Bazin – Film critic who wrote a book essay titled ‘what is cinema’ He believed that realism was the only way to make true cinema he wanted

no fancy camera work, shots on location with real people. This was called Italian Neorealism and the film he focused on was ‘Rome Open City’ by Rossalini in 1945.

Strongly argued that cinema should ‘reflect reality’ He was a humanist and therefore saw cinema as an “idealistic

phenomenon”. Italian neo realism rivalled soviet montage and German expressionism He presented a new take on cinema to compete with German Expressionism

and Soviet Montage. Introduced the auteur theory that suggested the director should be the true

artist of the film and the content should be a reflection of the director’s style. Camera can be used to reflect reality- e.g eye level, handheld Often used the long-takes and deep focus Made the unity of time and space more realistic and create a fixed

relationship with reality. Long-takes encouraged more audience participation as they were forced to pay more attention to understand what is happening visually, they couldn’t rely on the form of the film to give them impressions.

A long-take also makes the audience question the relevance of the shot (due to the contract between a director and the audience that states that what we are being shown is important) so we anticipate the meaning and importance.

Citizen Kane (1941) - encouraging the audience to participate by ‘cutting with their eyes’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LX27W51kB0

Realist Techniques and concepts:

Presented- unmediated Visual aesthetic- unconstructedPrinciple- truth Intent- spectator reflection on reality

Formalist (Formalism) (expressionist) techniques and concepts:Representation – mediatedVisual aesthetic – constructedPrinciple – manipulationIntent – agitation

Deep Focus Long takes Free/moving eye Static camera Extended shot duration Eye level camera Wide Shot Non-professional actors Shooting on location Sense of real space and time Editing tends to be seamless with

an emphasis on continuity.

Non-diegetic music Sets Montage editing Constructed and obvious editing Camera angles (Dutch, high, low) Heightened lighting Split screen Space/time manipulation

Classic film form:

Creative geography Soviet Montage – cuts should be visual – collision principle/discontinuity Combination of realist and formalist (classicism) Voiceovers Classicism- principles and style in art and literature to recognized standards

of form and craftsmanship Montage as part of continuity editing (training sequence in Rocky). Constructed montage. Narrative running through the sequence. Continuity, not collision. Continuity + montage.

How editing makes meaning:

Kuleshov effect Soviet montage Order, duration, repetition and

rhythm

How mise en scene makes meaning:

Content more than film form: Setting Lighting Universal focus Performance Composition etc.

Which Communist concepts manifest in Soviet Montage:

Film contributing to the revolution and propaganda e.g. workers rights

5 types of Soviet Montage:

1. Intellectual Montage – the cutting together of concepts which construct ideas through editing.

Film industry part of the state control of industry

Working class working together (the collective masses)- reflect the audience

Against the cinemas as an art form for the bourgeoise

Lenin- cinema is the most effective way of communicating to masses of varying education so film is contributing to revolution as propaganda, spreading ideas of communism (worker’s rights).

Showcasing the filmmaker as the worker “the engineer”

Soviet Montage reflects communism as it is controlled by the state – one state ownership is called Narkompros. Centralised production.

2. Tonal Montage – it uses the emotional meaning of the shots to elicit a reaction from the audience. A sleeping baby emotes calmness.

3. Metric Montage – where the editing follows a specific number of frames (based purely on the physical nature of time), cutting to the next shot no matter what is happening within the image. Used to elicit the most emotional reactions in the audience. (cuts happen irrelevant of content but according to time)

4. Rhythmic Montage - rhythmic montage is used to keep the pace in both a visual and auditory sense. Continuity from the visual pattern of the scene. Based on matching action and screen directions. An example is the Odessa steps sequence.

5. Over tonal Montage - mix of tonal, metric, and rhythmic montage to show themes on top of emotional messages present in the edits beforehand

What were Bazin’s main problems with expressive/formalist cinema?

He believes that realist films are more true to life and authentic. He believes that we should see the camera as our eye and we can look where we want to within the film. He disagreed with cinema manipulating emotions of viewers. This is similar to Citizen Kane. Wide shots, long takes etc.

What was Bazin’s main problems with Soviet Montage cinema?

Bazin’s intervention can be seen as a very useful way of calling ‘time out’ on our assumptions about what a film is and what it should be. There is surely a place for the kind of ‘slow’ cinema that enables us to reflect on the world, to be more attentive to the ordinary. More particularly, Bazin was bothered by the capacity of film for propagandist purposes, especially with Soviet cinema, and more broadly with the manipulation of audience emotions – which is the case with both Soviet and German films of the 1920s.

Bazin disagreed with the montage technique emphasised by the soviet montage movement. He described it as a “series of either logical or subjective points of view of an events” and believed that editing invents meaning through the juxtaposition of images rather than the actual images themselves and therefore it removes the freedom for the audience to select how they feel; however, he was not against editing that joins scenes or is there for necessity.

How and why did the Soviets become experts and pioneers in film editing?

Studied filmmaking and first film school Initially didn’t have and film stock to make films (no factories, trouble

importing) Looked at old films and chopped it up

Why might formalist techniques and ideas keep evolving in the future in a way that realist ones might not?

Can’t evolve reality unless society does itself, but you can evolve imagination and technology.