Soviet Montage Theory Film Essay

Eisentein describe montage is one of the editing style of discontinuity in graphic qualities which means how the filmmakers combine together all the different shots sizes in different camera angle by using the editing suite with the force of powerful narrative.

“Eisenstein held that proper film continuity should not proceed smoothly,but through a series of shocks. Whenever possible, he tried to create some kind of visual conflict or discontinuity between two shots with the goal of creating a jolt in the spectator’s psyche. The visual explosions on the screen were intended to create a continual source of stimulants or shocks to keepthe audience wide awake.” “The dynamics of montage serve as impulses driving forward the total film”,Eisentein wrote.

Juxtaposition of shots of high visual contrast will create conflict in storyline. Besides, soviet montage can also create the dramatic impact that will broke all the rules of smooth, invisible editing of the Classical Hollywood style. As the result, this theory can make sure the visual could create the impact esspecialy to manipulate emotion of the audiences. This is because by using the technique of juxtaposed the shot, different scene or situation can be shown at the same time and at the different location. Sometime juxtaposed could become as a cross-cutting.

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In the film Perempuan, Isteri dan ….. which directed by U-Wei Hj Shaari is one of the film that can be classify as the film that been using soviet montage theory in their editing. This theory that being used in their editing can be prove by looking at the scene A which the character of the husband cast by Nasir Bilal Khan was repairing the tyre of his lorry that explodes and replacing the tyre by using the spare tyre. Whereas in the scene B, the character of the wife cast by Sofia Jane were in the bush looks like doing something with another man. In the visual we could see the cutting point of the this two scenes actually happen in the same time but different location. We can see that through the editing technic, this film has manipulated audience’s emotion.

Realism is another technic of editing which being started by Andre Bazin. He was one of the influential French film critic and film theorist. In his perspective that film should try to view what is just related to reality because for him when watching a movie or a film we as the audiences should be shown the reality of the world. Just like he said, he depicted that what he saw as ‘objective reality’. We can see what is the meaning of ‘objective reality’ is just same as documentaries and Italian-Neorealism school which the directors are usually invisible just like Howard Hawk. Besides, Bazin also have started and expand the meaning and the uses of deep focus, wide shot and the technic of shot-in-depth. In this era of Bazin theory of realism which being used by some of the directors such as Orson Welles and Jean Renoir are usually referred to ‘true continuity’ that we can see through mise-en-scene which done by doing experiments in the editing process and visual effects. Through Bazin’s theory, he try to emphasize how the cinema actually manipulate reality.

Concerntrate more on objective reality, lack of montage and the using of deep focus are related to interpretation of a film or a scene that should be left to the spectator. This is to make sure that all of the people in the groups that watching the movie, understand and try to feel what is the director trying to share and tells the audiences through his film. Bazin also believe that film actually represent personal vision’s of the director which known as personalism. Furthermore, Bazin also known as ‘appreciative criticism’.

Film which directed by arwah Yasmin Ahmad usually used the theory of Andre Bazin. In her film we can see that how he try to potray the reality in our real life and the reality that we see in the film through the lense of the camera looks like what we see and facing in the real life. As the example we can see through the film that directed by arwah Yasmin Ahmad ‘Mukhsin’ in the scene where the main character Mukhsin was dreaming that he is flying when he sitting at the bench near the paddy field. For this scene, arwah Yasmin using a long take to view the beauty of the paddy field and also she try to show how long actually we as a human will take when we are dreaming and at the same time actually we imagine anything that may be we cannot do in our real life. Another example we can see in the film ‘Gubra’ regarding to the scene that shows long take of a kampung’s house. This technique such as long take being done with its own reason which the meaning is about showing the panoramic view of the house and the kampung. Realism is about less editing in the film and it is focusing more on realistic aesthetic in film.