A Study of Sergei Eisenstein’s Montage Theory Essay

movie theatre is a visual concept heavily marked by the object lens of enterntainment, yet is also an ideology that is subject to a whole imbedation of theoretical frameworks. Many of it may trace their beginnings to a technique, as with the collage, which in French means putting together. This is the solid base of Russian cinema, more specificall(a)y in the collage possible action subscribed to by Russian dashmakers. It is defined as a cinematic approach that depends mainly on editing, and the value of cuts in a film. In this revolutionary philosophical system in cinema, probably the most recognized name is that of Sergei Eisenstein.Eisenstein was born to Jewish parents in Tsarist Russia in 1898, and was educated in Riga and St. Petersburg. He learned to speak a number of languages fluently, and was urged by his father to conjoin his path of becoming a civil engineer. Nonetheless, the young Eisenstein already had expert inte eases in theatre, and spent all of his free time watching films. The red ink Revolution further reinforced his penchant for cinema, as he found himself educating workers, peasants, and troops in remote areas with camera in handand a gun in the other.Cinema was then perceived as a weapon by Eisenstein, a belief he would carry with him for the rest of his filmmaking career (Jonas, 1998). II, The Soviet Montage Soviet montage films were defined by its own set of values, not necessarily just techniques, but execute in a specific way. The socialist thinking was obviously pitch in this port, for individual characters in these films had no place as focal points. Social classes are the main issues, and the role of each character is to dissemble one. Various organized protests are also common elements of the films narrative, echoing the Russian revolution experience.Eisenstein formulated the system that resulted in a Synthesis, starting with a Thesis, followed by an Anti-Thesisa foundation of the montage that traces its origins to red ink themes of human history and experience being in perpetual participation wherein a force clashes with a counterforce the product of this encounter would be a new idea or concept, something absolutely greater than its origins (Karpenko, 2002). The montage sprint utilized editing and the resulting film cuts to generate reactions from the audience, usually in ways that defy convention.This contradicts traditional continuity editing, which shows scenes as they happen chronologically or at least in the same time realm montage cutting produced overlapping or elliptical time relations amongst cuts. Most exemplary of this technique is Eisensteins Strike, where he juxtaposed scenes of dickens separate characters and time frames via jump cuts. In the series showing a police incumbent and a butcher, the editing serves a particular resolverelate the connection between the acts being done by the officer and the butcher, in this case portray the idea that the workers were being slaught ered, just same animals.Eisenstein introduced his theory of intellectual montage, fully at work in this film by showing conflict in the juxtaposition of unrelated shots (Trischak, 1998). Eisenstein called montage a merge of opposites in art, through unity and conflict. He created this theory primarily to go against film tradition, negating the lack of character and stimulus in the logical editing of films. He listed several categories of montage, as well as the purpose of each 1. Metric Montage. Shots are edited together accord to their measured length, and are arranged according to a measure of music.accent is invariably produced by the combination of short shots and the expected flow of job or tone. 2. Rhythmic Montage. Compared to metric montage, action is given equal magnificence as the shots length, allowing for occasional conflicts between the montages rhythm and movement. An example would be the Odessa steps time in battlewagon Potemkin, where the shot showing soldiers m arching does not match the editing rhythm. This violates all metric requirements, effecting absolute tension and prepares the viewer for the iconic baby strength scene. 3.Tonal Montage. Generally a level higher than metric montage, this style is created by the specific scenes emotional tone. Vakulnichuks death in Potemkin, somber and sedate, appears in complete contrast to the steps sequences fast cuts. With each shots length at five seconds, this sequence serves as caesura, or a device to leave transition from the previous scene of violence to the citizens angry demonstrations. The similarities between tripping and tonal montage can be clearly seen as they two operate via the actions shown within each frame (HATII, 2008).