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's concept of constructive editing was one of his first important theoretical treaties. This theory stated that he believed every shot should make a point. He believed that through the juxtapostitions, new meanings were created. The shots didn't create the meanings. Pudovkin thought that Griffths close ups (CU's) created no meaning. He thought that the close ups were interruptive. On the other hand, Pudovkin thought that long shots were too closely related to reality whereas CU's put together created a unified meaning. It manifested itself on films because many other filmmakers were using cu's symbols, and textures in order to convey expressively the idea underlying the complex jumble of real life.

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

Lev Kuleshov was Pudoovkin's mentor and also heavily influenced Soviet film makers and the theories of Pavlov. The Kuleshov effect is similar to Pudockin's theoretical treaties. The Kuleshov effect shows that the emotion is produced not by the actor’s performance, but by the juxtapositions. Th Kuleshov effect is for the audience to create the emotional meaning. But this doesn't happen until the appropriate objects are put together by the filmmakers. Kuleshov experimented with this by involving unprofessional actors, who he proved were merely raw material. Kuleshov believed that ideas in cinema are created by linking together fragmentary details to produce a unified action (details can be unrelated in life). 

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 produced sharply contrasting images (collision montage). These kind of montages can be seen in the "Odessa Step". Eisenstein believed art of film was in the edit. He thought that each shot must be incomplete, contributory rather than self-contained, but not too linked. Editing for him was a mystical process. In the "Odessa Step", we see two different things going on. We see people smiling and waving at one another, but then the next moment we see people running and being killed. Eisenstein definitely shows his idea that life is constantly changing and the dialectical of contrasting opposites and putting them together. Critics of Eisenstein argued that his films lacked a sense of realism. Many critics thought that the problem with his films was that the meaning in the film too obvious for the audience. 

4. Andre Bazin and Realism

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

Bazin was not a film-maker but an editor of a French film journal "Cahiers Du Cinema". Bazin believed that editing could destroy the effectiveness of a scene. Distortions in using formalist techniques, especially thematic editing, can violate the complexities of reality. He thought that Formalists were manipulative. In comparison, Bazin believed that classical cutting was also seen as potentially corrupting. The technique encourages us to follow the shot sequence without us being conscious of its arbitrariness. 

“Without thinking, we accept his analysis because it conforms to the laws of attention, but we are deprived of a privilege” The privilege of making up your own meaning.

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 filmmakers strive for reality and what actually exists in our world. Realist filmmakers were challenged to create a heightened sense of reality. The director must reveal the poetic implications of ordinary people, events and places. Cinema is neither an objective recording nor a symbolic abstraction.

c. What techniques to realists use in their filmmaking?

Technical Innovations in the late 20’s sound, 30’s, 40’s color and deep focus photography, and 50’s wide screen, pushed the medium closer to a realistic ideal. Realists created sound made acting styles more subtle, no intrusive titles, no exaggeration, a few lines of dialogue could eliminate tedious exposition. This would create more realism in films. The deep focus was used in order to create one set up with depth, allowing no sacrifice of detail.