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COM 320—History of Film

COM 320—History of Film. Soviet Montage Movement 1917-1933. Defining Characteristics. “Montage. . . as a collision of elements. . . Imitated the Marxist concept of the dialectic. . . ‘intellectual cinema’ attempts not to tell a story but to convey abstract ideas, as a political tract might”.

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COM 320—History of Film

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  1. COM 320—History of Film Soviet Montage Movement 1917-1933

  2. Defining Characteristics • “Montage. . . as a collision of elements. . . Imitated the Marxist concept of the dialectic. . . ‘intellectual cinema’ attempts not to tell a story but to convey abstract ideas, as a political tract might”

  3. Form & Style: Editing Most Important • Narrative structure—social forces

  4. Form & Style: Editing Most Important • Large number of shots

  5. Form & Style: Editing Most Important • “Kuleshov effect” of juxtaposed shots (MORE later in Editing PPT)

  6. Form & Style: Editing Most Important • Maximization of dynamic tension through two opposing editing techniques (MORE later in Editing PPT) • (1) overlapping editing • (2) elliptical (i.e., jump cut) editing

  7. Form & Style: Editing Most Important • Non-diegetic inserts (MORE later in Editing PPT) • e.g., Slaughterhouse footage near end of Strike

  8. Background In a commercial film context Artistically, derived from Constructivism, viewing artwork as machine; montage; no elite art However, commercial success was secondary to serving the national interest; a national cinema The development of a national cinema—the State Film School in 1919, under the control of the Narkompros (People’s Commissariat of Education)

  9. See Handout--Flowchart of Soviet Montage Influences

  10. Other Film Types in that Nation at that Time • Very few domestic alternatives • Surprising importance of imports (e.g., Thief of Bagdad ran for years)

  11. Importance of Movement • Although Battleship Potemkim was seen around the world, its main impact was later, and certainly limited to style/technique—the content was not widely imitated.

  12. Important Practitioners • Lev Kuleshov (1899-1970) & his workshop

  13. Important Practitioners • Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) (Battleship Potemkin, Strike)

  14. Important Practitioners • Vsevolod Pudovkin (1893-1953) (Mother)

  15. Important Practitioners • Dziga Vertov (1896-1954) (The Man with the Movie Camera)

  16. Important Practitioners • Lev Kuleshov & his workshop • Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin, Strike) • Vsevolod Pudovkin (Mother) • Dziga Vertov (The Man with the Movie Camera) • Note that Kuleshov, Eisenstein, and Vertov were all film writers and teachers (i.e., scholars) as well as filmmakers.

  17. The Death of the Movement • Soviet Montage called “formalism,” too complex for the mass (Joseph Stalin said…) • 1929 five-year plan called for centralization of film, control taken away from the Narkompros (Stalin again)

  18. Current Influences and Applications? • Editing!! • See LATER handout and PPT on Origins of Editing Styles and Techniques

  19. end

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