BEFORE WE BEGIN...IMPORTANT TERM - JUXTAPOSITION

Why is this Adbusters image effective? (Clue; the answer is 'juxtaposition', but you need to explain it!)







Probably the most important determinant affecting the development of early Soviet Russian Cinema is, of course, the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the establishment of a Communist system. As such, large industries, including the film industry, were quickly nationalised; that is, put under the direct control of the government, rather than that of private individuals.

This had some fairly obvious results. Firstly, these movies are very political and their political beliefs are predictably orthodox (that is, in keeping with Russian ‘official’ belief of the time.) Also, film was seen as a powerful educational tool, to be used to enthuse and encourage the masses to work for the glory of their country. Special trains would tour around the country, showing these films to huge audiences. Elsewhere, film was still regarded as being pure entertainment; the political content identifies Russian cinema as something unique for its time. Thus, these films tend to emphasise simple political points, easily understood by a largely illiterate, peasant audience.

Another direct result of state control is that many of these directors had large budgets to work with; the government did not mind paying out for what it saw as an extremely powerful educational (or, probably more accurately, propagandistic) medium. This means, for example, that massive crowd scenes are fairly common in these films, whereas they are something of a rarity elsewhere. (These crowd scenes also help emphasise the only theme that early Soviet directors were allowed to work with; the triumph of the masses over the greedy bourgeoisie. In Hollywood, by contrast, the typical narrative – of the average Western, for example – focuses on individual heroism.)

So far, so dull. Big expensive movies that are, basically, all about the same thing. We won’t get far, to be honest, if we watch these films for their content. However, the revolutionary air permeating Russia at the time made its mark in the style of these movies, and the most noticeable stylistic advance concerns the development of what is now known as Soviet Montage Theory.

Lev Kuleshov started formulating ideas about the effect of montage, to the extent that we now talk about ‘The Kuleshov Effect’ – the idea that individual shots need not have meaning by themselves; their meaning is created by juxtaposition with other shots. To be a bit academic about it, INTERFRAME features take precedence over INTRAFRAME features; or, the editing is more important in the construction of meaning than the mise-en-scene. Alfred Hitchcock, being interviewed in 1964, demonstrates the effect here:





Probably the most famous of these directors (and one of the all-time greats), Sergei Eisenstein, developed the theory further, identifying five different ways to use montage, listed here courtesy of Wikipedia:

Methods of montage

1. Metric - 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. This montage is used to elicit the most basal and emotional of reactions in the audience.
   • Metric montage example from Eisenstein's October.

1. Rhythmic - includes cutting based on time, but using the visual composition of the shots -- along with a change in the speed of the metric cuts -- to induce more complex meanings than what is possible with metric montage. Once sound was introduced, rhythmic montage also included audial elements (music, dialogue, sounds).
   
   • Another rhythmic montage example from The Battleship Potemkin's "Odessa steps" sequence.
   
   
2. Tonal - a tonal montage uses the emotional meaning of the shots -- not just manipulating the temporal length of the cuts or its rhythmical characteristics -- to elicit a reaction from the audience even more complex than from the metric or rhythmic montage. For example, a sleeping baby would emote calmness and relaxation.
   • Tonal example from Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin. This is the clip following the death of the revolutionary sailor Vakulinchuk, a martyr for sailors and workers.
   
   
   
3. Overtonal/Associational - the overtonal montage is the cumulation of metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage to synthesize its effect on the audience for an even more abstract and complicated effect.
   • Overtonal example from Eisenstein.
4. Intellectual - uses shots which, combined, elicit an intellectual meaning.
   • Intellectual montage examples from Eisenstein's October
     
   
   
   

Probably the most famous movie produced by any of these directors is Eisenstein's 'Battleship Potemkin' (1925), often referred to as the most influential silent film of all time, and the most famous part of that movie is the 'Odessa Steps' sequence, which uses montage to great effect. A slightly edited version can be seen here:



Juxtapose the two most famous exponents of Russian montage by comparing Battelship Potempkin with Mother (d. Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1926)



Another, more modern, example of montage is from Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' (1972), when Michael Corleone arranges for his enemies to be killed while he attends the baptism of his son.



Montage editing can be seen as an alternative to CONTINUITY EDITING (or the classical Hollywood style). Continuity editing strives to make the editing invisible; done well, as in most Hollywood movies, the audience is barely aware of camera movement or cuts. Montage, on the other hand, uses editing to construct the meaning of the piece rather than as a means to an end. The effect, thus, isn't only in the shots; it's in the order of the shots.

Finally, also consider the importance of Lev Kuleshov and the 'The Kuleshov Effect.' Watch the footage below which is considered to come from the original experiment to see how the audience makes sense of shots (and cuts) to create meaning. Play the segment of footage with the sound turned down.

WHAT ELEMENTS OF MONTAGE AND CONTINUITY EDITING ARE EVIDENT HERE?

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