Blog: Advanced Editing Notes: 3. Soviet Montage and 4. Realism

3. Soviet Montage and Formalism

a. What was Pudovkin's concept of constructive editing and how did it manifest itself on film?

Pudovkin insisted that each shot should make a new point. He believed that each shot created new meanings to itself. He believed that riffith's close ups were too intrusive to the actor/actress, which showed no meaning to the shot. The way Pudvokin put close ups together was in a way to create meaning, and stating that long shots were too far from reality. An example of this is when a there was a close up of this man, then it cut to a close up of this bowl of soup, then back to the man, show his emotions and his need to eat the soup.

b. What was the Kuleshov effect and give me an example of how is it used in today's film's?

Kuleshov believed shots were linked together framentarly through details to produce a unified action. The Kuleshov Effect shows that the emotion is produced not by the actor’s performance, but by the juxtapositions. The viewer creates the emotional meaning, once the appropriate objects have been put together by the filmmaker. 

c. What was Eisensteinian Montage and how does it work in the "Odessa Step" sequence?

Eisenstein believed life was about constant change and this dialectical of contrasting opposites, because all phenomena are in a state of becoming. Eisenstein also believed art of film was in the edit, that each shot must be incomplete, contributory rather than self-contained, but not too linked.  Eisensteinian used this technique in the Odessa Step. Critics of Eisenstein argued that his films lacked a sense of realism. They also guided the audience too much. 

4. Andre Bazin and Realism

a. What were Andre Bazin's frustrations with Classical and Formalistic film making?

Bazin claimed that he was not a film maker. Bazin was responsible for creating an approach to analyzing a the body of a Director's work in order to discern patterns in style and themes. He believed that editing could destroy the effectiveness of a scene. Distortions in using formalist techniques, especially thematic ediing, can violate the complexities of reality. Formalists were egocentric and manipulative.

b. What do Realist filmmakers strive for in their work?

Realism in film is accomplished by using long shots, wide screen, lengthy takes, deep focus, panning, craning, tilting, or tracking rather than cutting to individual shots.  Realist filmakers strive to ensure that each shot was as realistic as possible, and that it flowed smoothly, rather then doing unnecessary cutting to a shot. By not following these guidelines, realist filmmakers cannot create this sense of reality. 

c. What techniques to realists use in their film making?
Realism in film is accomplished by using long shots, wide screen, lengthy takes, deep focus, panning, craning, tilting, or tracking rather than cutting to individual shots.  Details within a shot are presented more democratically, without the special attention a close-up inevitably confers.