Russian Montage

1
Russian Montage

• 1924 - 1930

2
History

• Before WWI Russian cinema was neither large nor
  popular.
• The conservative ruling classes didnt much care
  for film and the working class couldnt afford to
  go to the movies.
• 90 of films made in Moscow or St Petersburg.
• All equipment and film was imported from Germany
  or France.

3

• During the war- imports cut off so Soviet film
  companies did well making films for the domestic
  market.
• Films were slow-paced melodramas, focusing on
  characters being caught in extremely emotional
  situationsseldom seen abroad.
• Russian Revolution victory of 1917 however, the
  Soviet government faced the task of controlling
  all sectors of life.
• Film firms resisted the urge to become
  nationalized property.

4

• 1918 State Commission of Education strict
  control of existing supplies of raw film stock.
• Refused to supply films to cinemas operating
  under the control of the government.
• Producers began hoarding stocks. Others fled the
  country with all the stock, film equipment they
  could escape with.

5

• Some companies made films commissioned by the
  communists hoping their rule would be short-lived
  and conditions would return to pre-revolutionary
  times.
• Political propaganda and indoctrination rife.
• Shortages of equipment poor living conditions
  ultimately embraced by young filmmakers which
  would result in the birth of a national film
  movement.
• Ideologically driven cinema.
• Filmmakers avowed Marxists.

6
Montage

• The Hollywood use of this term generally is a
  description of sequences which link or compress
  time
• More associated with Russian editing principles.
  These principles of editing stress combining
  images to produce an idea
• Montage plus captions superseded acting and story
  conventions
• Rhythmic and content montage used specifically-
  originally simply meant editing, then cutting and
  splicing of film together

7
Dominant Figures

• Lev Kuleshov teacher at State School on Cinema
  Art ? experimented with editing footage from all
  different sources into a whole that creates the
  impression of continuity. Most conservative -
  tried to reflect the Classic Hollywood Style of
  continuity editing.
• Dziga Vertov (20)- experimented with documentary
  footage of war? was put in charge of all newsreel
  footage.
• Pudovkin, Einsenstein, Vertov, and Alexander
  Dovzhenko (Ukranian) created a series of films
  that are classics of the Montage style.
• Pudovkinshots were like bricks, to be joined
  together to build a sequence.

8
Sergei Eisenstein

• Battleship Potemkin 1925
• Believed maximum effect was gained if shots did
  not fit together perfectly created a jolt for
  the viewer.
• Juxtaposing shots to create a concept.
• Felt film could synthesize the art forms which
  preceded it.
• Originally one of eight episodes

9
History of Potemkin

• 1905 Historical uprising of Battleship
• Potemkin during Russo-Japanese war.
• Communist revolts against the Tsar
• beginning to be seen.
• 1917 Working class overtakes the Tzarist regime.
• 1925 Communist Government Central Committee
  requests series of films commemorating the 1905
  revolution.

10
Rhythmic Montage

• Formal tension by acceleration obtained by
  shortening the pieces of film. Odessa steps --
  tempo of soldiers' feet as they march down the
  steps
• Unsynchronized with the beat of the cutting.
• Tension also supplied by the transfer from the
  rhythm of the soldiers to another rhythm, another
  type of downward movement -- the baby carriage.
• Mounting tempo to sequence.
• Also, shot of woman moving against the tempo of
  the soldiers (montage by composition, movement
  and rhythm)

11
Content Montage

• Sought to reveal the inner nature of images