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Montage: Eisenstein vs. Vertov

Using Film Editing to Argue What Cinema Should Be

Eisenstein uses montage to create emotions in his viewers through composition. For Vertovmontage is a series of choices during production that eventually achieve a plot.

Eisenstein classifies his use of montage into four categories:

1. Moving fragments

2. Artificially produced images of motion (logical and illogical)

3. Emotional combinations

4. Liberation of the action from time and space

“Moving fragments” simply stands for single photographed pieces that have not yet been used in

a composition. A logically produced artificial image of motion can be achieved by skipping an

action between two fragments to deliver the sense of that action happening without actually

showing it, or using different close-ups and angles of objects to convey the actions they do. Anillogical one can be done by intercutting different images to create a certain impression on the

viewer.

An emotional combination parallels two different actions connected by an associative link, to

create an intense emotional state in the audience. Liberation of the action from time and space is

achieved by superimposing independent objects on top of each other to create symbols. In hisessay A Dialectic Approach to Film Form, Eisenstein considers montage as a way to strengthen

the feelings and ideas conveyed by the film rather than to advance the plot. He is intrigued by the

 possibilities montage techniques offer in describing an event or situation and tries to discover and refine them in his movies, rather than sticking to simple story-telling.

Vertov: Montage is More Than Shot Sequences With Tricks

Vertov believes a director makes a montage whenever he makes a decision about the film; when

he selects a theme, when he observes for his theme and when he arranges the order of the shotsfor his theme. He labels these decisions as montage because they reduce the thousands of 

 possibilities available to the director into finally constructing the actual film. Vertov’s aim is not

to emphasize a certain feeling or idea through montage, but rather to create his plot by

organizing shots through his own montage theories. His theories reject the montage tricks of Eisenstein, and does not rely on intertitles to create a connection between his shots; instead, he

regards montage as the connector.

Montage Makes the Final Product

Eisenstein’s films have an easier to follow storyline, seeming almost conventional rather than

experimental, however each scene is filled with carefully chosen symbols and different montage

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techniques meticulously constructed. Vertov’s films on the other hand are more open ended,

since they only have a theme and not a scripted plot and rely on the diligent organization of 

different shots to create the feeling of a storyline that is left to the interpretation of the spectator.Vertov aims to give freedom to his audience through his montage theories whereas Eisenstein

aims to guide them through certain feelings and ideas.

Discover Their Films

Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin available from Kino International.

Dziga Vertov's Man With the Movie Camera available from Image Entertainment.