Montage and Constructivism CMST 120 Montage and Constructivism

Constructivism The term was first coined in Russia between 1919-1921 The movement was in favor of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism often focused on technology, speed, and machinery. Here is a an example of constructivism in audio/music. This actually borders on Noise Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-9j6Pj73mQ

Constructivism Art Defined From the MOMA website: “The term was first coined by artists in Russia in early 1921 and achieved wide international currency in the 1920s. Russian Constructivism refers specifically to a group of artists who sought to move beyond the autonomous art object, extending the formal language of abstract art into practical design work. This development was prompted by the Utopian climate following the October Revolution of 1917” http://www.moma.org/collection/details.php?theme_id=10955

Kuleshov Lev Kuleshov was a Russian filmmaker (1899-1970) He was an early theorist of Soviet Montage He was an instructor at The Moscow Film School. Kuleshov discovered that audiences interpret the actor’s expression in relation to the image it was paired with.

Eisenstein on Montage Eisenstein believed that film montage could create ideas or have an impact beyond the individual images. Two or more images edited together create a third meaning. Eisenstein's greatest demonstration of the power of montage comes in the "Odessa Steps" sequence in Potemkin. The entire sequence is edited to make it appear much longer than how it would have occurred in reality. This is because of the montage editing.

Dziga Vertov on Montage Vertov created elaborate, often frenetic montage that was unmatched until the era of music video in the 1980s and 1990s. The Man With a Movie Camera was a documentary – yet it took great liberties with its own editing. Reflexive Film - A meta-step further: Multiple times we see the cameraman shooting film, then the audience watching that same shot in a theatre.