Editing

Question 1

Soviet Montage

Answer 1

1920s Soviet filmmaking theory
Editing is the central art of film
Montage assembles related images into a work of art

Question 2

Soviet Montage Aestetic Principals

Answer 2

Editing interprets reality, not just shows it neutrally
Filmmaker’s presence always felt
Soviet films had more shots (600–2000) than Hollywood (500–1000)
Shots shorter in Soviet films (2–4 sec) vs. Hollywood (5–6 sec)
Frequent editing used for emotional and rhetorical effect
Actions broken into multiple shots with overlapping editing
Editing used to create metaphors and similes
Heavy use of crosscutting across locations

Question 3

Dziga Vertov: Kino-Eye

Answer 3

Film captures what human eye cannot see
Assembles fragments through editing
His wife Elizaveta Svilova edited his films, a key editor-director partnership example

Question 4

Kuleshov Effect

Answer 4

Two shots together create meaning beyond individual shots
Viewer derives meaning from shot interaction

Question 5

Point of View Editing

Answer 5

Based on Kuleshov Effect
Point/glance shot (character looking) + point/object shot (what they see)
Viewer infers character’s thoughts or feelings

Question 6

Eisenstein’s Spatial Discontinuity

Answer 6

Shots create breaks in space and time, not smooth continuity
Graphic conflicts between shots
Dialectical montage: conflicting shots create abstract ideas

Question 7

Overlapping Editing

Answer 7

Action repeats at end of one shot and start of next
Stretches story time, making action feel longer

Question 8

Temporal Discontinuity

Answer 8

Slows down dramatic moments (e.g., plate smashing)
Creates surreal, jarring effects
Highlights impact of actions

Question 9

Editing as Figures of Speech

Answer 9

Editing creates symbolic images
Symbols can have multiple meanings

Question 10

Editing as figure of speech: Battleship Potemkin

Answer 10

The “marble lion leaps up” through editing.
The symbolic figure is polysemous—it has multiple meanings:
Shows generals’ anger after the bombardment.
Represents the Russian people’s awakening after the massacre.
The movement is artificially created—a basic form of animation.
Acts as a visual equivalent to the sound of explosions

Question 11

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Answer 11

Masterwork of silent cinema
Expresses revolutionary triumph
Plot in five parts

Question 12

Odessa Steps Sequence

Answer 12

Uses jump cuts, crosscutting, overlapping, rhythmic editing
Shows conflict with opposing screen directions and camera distances
Intellectual montage symbolized by marble lion

Question 13

Metric Montage

Answer 13

Shot length fixed by frame count, regardless of content
Creates rhythmic effect, like musical time signatures

Question 14

Rhythmic Montage

Answer 14

Shot length depends on action content
Matches pace of movement, creates emotional response

Question 15

Tonal Montage

Answer 15

Based on emotional tone/mood of shots
Uses light, focus, shapes to create feeling
Example: mist in Battleship Potemkin

Question 16

Overtonal Montage

Answer 16

Combines metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage
Balances shot length, content, and mood
Creates complex emotional and physical impact

Question 17

Intellectual Montage

Answer 17

Juxtaposes unrelated shots to form new ideas
Uses symbolism to provoke thought
Creates conceptual understanding for the viewer