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Definition
| system of socialism of which the dominant feature is public ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange. |
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Term
| How does Eisenstein’s montage differ from Griffith’s? |
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Definition
Griffith: Hollywood. Continuety Editting created continuous flow of events which allowed for evolutionary change. No Class- (heros, one character among the mass is usually identified).
ex: Parallel Editting: Purpose: to create a sense of whole, to bring two different scense/events together
Eisenstein: Soviet Cinema. Montage created disrupted flow of events which created the possibility for revolutionary change. Class- (no hero, never individualized, but audience identifies with whole group, insists on not making the collective homogenized, they can be heroic, diverse, and still be united).
ex: Conflict Editting: Purpose to show that society is not whole
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Term
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Definition
| Literally: editting, assembly. Film: A number of disperse scenes/clips/footage that have been editted together into one continuous sequence. |
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What was Sergei Eisenstein’s theory of montage |
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Definition
| film montage can create ideas or have an impact beyond the individual images. Two or more images edited together Third image that makes the whole greater than the sum of its individual parts. |
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| Competing Theories on Montage to Eisenstein's |
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Definition
| Griffith's, Vertov's, Kuleshov's, Pudovkin's |
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| Why did Eisenstein and Vertov dislike each other’s films? |
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Definition
| Vertov disliked Eisenstein's relience on film narrative, and Eisenstein denounced Vertov's documentary style film. Eisenstein thought change could be initiated through distortion while Vertov wanted to show things documentary style, how they actually are, and show viewers things that they wouldn't typically see. |
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| How does Vertov theorize the camera in Kino-Eye? What is the relationship between the camera and production? |
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Definition
| Vertov drew link between the camera and the human eye, the camera being a machine that serves the purpose of an eye. Vertov's productions often stressed liberation through homogenization of man with machine. |
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Term
| What is the Kuleshov effect? Why is the development of the Kuleshov effect important in the history of cinema? |
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Definition
| The name given to the mental tendency of viewers to attempt to figure out how filmed shots fit together, even if the shots are totally unrelated. Genesis of the idea of montage, showed how important editing can be in altering viewer's perception of film. E.G. the meaning of any shot is contextual. |
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| How does Eisenstein deploy montage in Strike and in the Odessa steps sequence from Battleship Potemkin? |
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Definition
| Strike!=shot A of the workers’ rebellion being put down is juxtaposed with shot B of cattle being slaughtered and the synthesis yields the symbolic meaning C, that the workers are cattle. Odessa Steps/Battleship Potemkin: draws out steps making them seem as though they last forever, manipulates space and time, as well as rhythm. |
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| How does Eisenstein’s career develop? What changes does Eisenstein’s aesthetic undergo with the coming of sound? How did he displease Stalin with his filmmaking? |
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Definition
| The son of a Jewish architect, he studied to be an architect himself and, after distinguished service in the Red Army as an engineer, joined the theatre as a painter and designer. He soon became director of the Moscow Proletkult, an avant-garde theatre that rejected the naturalistic methods of Stanislavsky in favour of Vsevolod Meyerhold’s biomechanical approach to acting, which was based on Pavlovian reflexology. Thus began the director’s lifelong fascination with the question of how audience responses can be aroused in the theatre, and in film. First movie, Strike!, fled country after Old and New/The General Line, went to Hollywood, produced Alexander Nevsky which was his first sound, hugely successful. In Old and New/The General Line there was too much individualistic, griffith-esq aspects. Stalin also hated Ivan the Terrible, Part II. |
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| How do Modernism and Marxism work together in Eisenstein’s films |
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Definition
| Eisenstein used "modernist methods" such as montage to express marxist ideas |
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| How would you describe Marxist aesthetics, based on the two films we’ve seen? |
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Definition
| Marxist Aesthetics sought to exemplify how economic and social conditions affect every aspect of an individuals life. |
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| How does montage function differently in the films of Vertov and Eisenstein? What are the political ramifications of these differences? |
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Definition
| Eisenstein used montage to distort the truth in order to promote change (political ramification: revolutionary change). Vertov used montage to show viewers different aspects of reality without distortions, so they viewed reality but in such a way that they could see different things through the movie camera. (political ramifications: evolutionary) |
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| How does Keaton as a filmmaker relate to technology? |
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Definition
| Keaton learned how to use technology to expand on his stunts and gags. Long shots and takes establishe dthe actuality of his performances, editing tied together gags into a trajectory, and location shooting provided the vast realistic landscapes for his films, grounding them in the real world. |
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