While the United States and the rest of the world focused on commercially pushing out films for profit, Russia used film to create an art form. Russian filmmakers took risks and created camera effects that had never been seen before. The Soviet Union influenced many films coming out of Russia during the 20’s. For example Dziga Vertov produced Man With A Movie Camera (1929). This film was wildly adventurous; Vertov made no effort to hide the fact that it was a film. He used editing techniques and music to create the scene, there was no plot to the film or characters. The film showed a day in the life of a Russian citizen, Vertov filmed Man With A Movie Camera over a span of four years. In the film the audience is introduced to “The man with …show more content…
a movie camera”, they watch as he films the scenes used for the movie. Vertov took daring shots of street cars rolling over the camera and trains racing straight towards the audience, who were terrified by these images.
During the film the use of extreme close ups, stop motion, reverse motion, low angle shots, wide shots, freeze frame, spit screen and many more kept the pace of the film and remained the audience that Man With A Movie Camera was a film being filmed. Soviet cinema was way ahead of the rest of the world, the man behind many of the effects used in Man With A Movie Camera were created by Lev Kuleshov. Kuleshov invented the “creative geography” effect, which is when scenes from different locations and films are brought together to create one fluid scene. Sergei Eisenstein, invented a form of intercutting called a “Montage Effect”, all used in Man With A Movie Camera. Many of these effects were radical and unheard of, for example “Montage of Attraction” is when various themes are intercut together, similar to “Montage Shock” which includes violent images intercut together to shock the viewer. There’s also “Rhythmic Montage” which is used to create suspense by gradually decreasing and increasing the shot length. “Collusionary Montage” uses images to create a fluid effect while “Collisonary Montage” uses violent
images. Lastly, “Tonal Montage” is used intercut images together to create an emotion. Vertov used no actors, nothing was staged all of the scenes were real life. The goal was to show Key-No-eye, the camera was the truth, the camera caught everything the camera sees all. The films purpose was to highlight the start of hyper surveillance. The government wanted to show the rest of the world that the Soviet Union were better than everyone else, they worked hard, played hard and were striving forward. The sense of communality and collectivism emphasized that their society was a group, everyone is equal no one is better than anyone else. The humans in the film portrayed movements that resembled machines, unlike western culture where the human body is fetishized. Vertov made sure to show the many contrast in society at that time, for example he intercut scenes of a woman working with scenes of a woman at the beauty parlor to show that they are connected. Vertov allowed the images to truly tell the story, for instance in the scene of marriage and divorce. When showing the couple signing the marital agreement he intercut it with scenes of the birth of a baby to symbolize the birth of a union. He did the same with the scene of divorce; he makes the audience feel the emotion these real people were going through by showing death and splitting the scenes in opposite directions. Everything is brought together even without words or subtitles the visual effects spoke volumes. The music and editing created it own language, for example fast tempo music was played while scenes of people preforming different job intercut together. The perpetual movements in the film made the audience feel rushed and panicked, which kept them alert and attentive. This film focused on the construction of each shot, there was no cast, the people of Russia were the cast, and they are there own heroes. While this film was used a soviet propaganda, it also severed a purpose for western filmmakers that there are many more thing film can do
consider to be more modern film techniques. Montage plays a key role in this film, as
In the few of his numerous films that I have seen, Coppola appears to use much of the same aesthetic techniques. Most of his works’ mise-en-scene, with some exceptions, seems to be very basic. When he is filming, Francis Ford Coppola does not put too many unnecessary items into the scene. When using a Wide-angle lens, the frames are very open and spacious. This allows the viewer to focus on what is happening, rather than distract their attention. This technique can also prove useful. For example, if he wanted to make a character seem alone, abandoned, and insignificant, this type of shot would work well. Opposite a number of his films, in Apocalypse Now, it was important to some of the frames full. However, they still were not completed with excess objects, instead they were lavishly filled with the natural, lush greens of the Philippines. Francis Ford Coppola also uses dissolves in his works. In The Cotton Club (1984), this technique was used a couple of times, when both dancing and singing was being performed. His editing style proved continuous. It was neither choppy, nor disruptive to the viewer, which allowed for a more pleasant experience.
The start of special effects in film is largely attributed to Georges Méliès and his process of removing a section of a moving picture to place another moving part within.
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
...e American Dream. Larry Ceplair and Englund stated in the book The Inquistion in Hollywood, “The destruction of the motion picture Left not only transformed the political atmosphere in Hollywood, but also adversely affected the kind of product which the studios turned out. “ In the early 20th century Hollywood reframed from producing politically controversial films in fear of becoming a target of McCarthy or the HUAC. Anti-communism influences the films produced, films portrayed communism as evil and immoral. The films during the cold war certainly portrayed the political storm between the progressive left and the conservative right. Films such as Ninotchka in 1939, showed anti-communism, guilty of Treason 1949, showed an attack against communism, exploiting the evils of communism was shown in Docudrama. The Red Menace in 1949 showed the immense threat f communism.
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
In the film V for Vendetta the director James Mcteigue uses a range of different film techniques in order to gain the audience's attention and to make the movie more interesting. The four film techniques I’m going to focus on in this essay are editing, music, camera angles and the lighting. I am going to do this by analysing the ‘Domino Montage’ scene.
...s appeared not so much to matter as the fact that he developed new techniques, devised camera approaches and sought always to bring out the potential of a still developing form. That he forgot--or overlooked--to bring the Marxist message to one of his films two years ago brought him that fatal kiss of all--the accusation from the authoritative Soviet magazine, Culture and Life, that his productions had been short on the prescribed Soviet requirement of art and interpretation of history” ("Sergei Eisenstein is Dead in Moscow”, New York Times, 1948) . In film, Eisenstein was known for his development of the montage sequence, his unusual juxtapositions, and his life-like imagery. In life he was known for his propaganda and belief in the plight of the working class. Eisenstein left an inevitable mark on his community, his time, the shape of a sub-culture, and his art.
Another good camera technique used in Requiem for a Dream were split screens. The split screens used by Aronofsky were perfectly split in the middle. The screens used maintained a good balance of your attention on both sides. The split screens allowed you to see two characters at once, making it easy to see what each one was doing at the same time. For example, there was a scene where Harry and Marion were talking to each other. Both of their faces and bodies were shown at the same time. Each character's response to each other was shown while they were talking or touching. It emphasized each character’s love for the other, making it feel like you were in the room watching what was taking place.
The visual construction plays an important role in establishing the plot and enticing viewers to a dystopian story. It is the finishing touches which makes a movie a masterpiece. The combination of visual effects including montages, camera angles and tempo was structured brilliantly in the I am Legend and as a result was successful in demonstrating key qualities of a dystopian fiction.
Filmmaker and theorist, Lev Kuleshov, is known today as the grandfather of Soviet Montage theory. His works include The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924), Death Ray (1925), The Great Consoler (1933) and We from the Urals (1943). Kuleshov’s life work has had a profound influence on the filmmakers around him and filmmakers today. One of his greatest triumphs was cofounding the Moskow Film School, the world’s first film school. In a time when filmmaking was still in its infancy, Kuleshov was perhaps the first to theorize about the power of this new story telling medium. These theories and experiments would pave the way for future Russian film giants like Pudovkin and Eisenstein (who briefly studied under him).
However, in stark contrast to The General, other films were being made around the world that did not follow a simple Hollywood structure, but rather were more experimental with what a movie could be. Man With a Movie Camera (1929), a very ahead of its time, utilized a completely different style of filmmaking that resonated strongly with the ideals of the Soviet Union. Thus, Man With a Movie Camera sought out to make the everyday people of the Soviet Union the stars of the film. This idea was completely revolutionary as well, and almost by necessity, introduced a new style of editing to fit the story—or rather the documentation—that director Dziga Vertov was trying to tell.
In the presented essay I will compare the style of work of selected artists in the montage of the film. I will try to point out some general regularities and features of Soviet cinema. At the same time I will try to capture especially what is common in their systems and similar or conversely what differ. For my analysis, I will draw on the feature films of the Soviet avantgarde, namely these are the movies - The Battleship Potemkin (S. Eisenstein, 1925), Mother (V. Pudovkin, 1926) and The Man with a movie camera (D. Vertov, 1929).
The 1920’s and 1930’s was considered the golden age for movie production. In the 1920’s the production code started censoring the film makers. This stated that any movie written had to pass a certain criteria examples included: if containing sex, violence, and killing. Early silent movies were often accompanied by live piano or organ music. Films were black and white. According to A Short Stories of the Movies, D.W Griffith, never had the intention to make movies, accidentally writing and reporting for a Louisville newspaper led him to become a movie producer, and writer. He is known as the inventor of Hollywood for using close-up shots, which tightly frames an object; today is known as “zooming”. He also used cross-cutting, in order to make
This film takes advantage of lots of short quick cuts in all of the action scene to keep the audience 's attention. The most used shot the tight shot to show character reactions and thought and decisions help convey a characters thoughts without having to state it outright. Most of the images on film are open, setting up the next shot for the camera to move next. They also use pan shots to show entrances and changes in location and create the illusion of motion in Matrix with it. The structural rhythm of the film is very quick helping with that action feeling. It play with the juxtaposition of the Matrix and real world. The film also frequently uses match cutting to drop in agents where people used to