Styles of editing Continuity editing
Hollywood narrative style
“Analytic editing” Invisible shot
transitions Shots subordinated
to unity of segment Implies a passive
spectator
Discontinuity editing Modernist and
experimental “Montage” style Foregrounds shot
transitions Stresses formal
integrity of each shot Implies active spectator
Continuity editing Hollywood, narrative style. “Analytic editing.” Invisible shot transitions. Shots subordinated to unity of segment. Implies a passive spectator.
Analytic editing in Sabotage
Discontinuity editing Modernist and experimental films. “Montage” style. Foregrounds shot transitions. Stresses formal integrity of each shot. Implies active spectator.
The aesthetics of editing relies on four areas of choice and control
Graphic relations
Rhythmic relations
Spatial relations
Temporal relations
Rhythmic relations between shots Metrical montage
Graphic relations between shots Line
Shape
Depth
Angle
Tonal contrast
Speed and direction of movement
Graphic relations between shots
Graphic relations between shots
Spatial relations between shots The “Kuleshov effect”
“Creative geography”
Temporal relations between shots Jumpcuts
Overlapping edits
Flashbacks and flashforwards
Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948)
To precisely calculate he design of the work of art and its effects on the spectator.
No practice without theory.
No practice or theory of art separate from the social command.
The ideogram and the montage cell
Eisenstein’s theory of spectatorship To direct forcefully the emotions and thought
processes of the spectator as a series of “shocks.” Pavlov’s reflexology: stimulus and response. Marxist dialectic: out of conflict comes a higher unity, a
synthetic idea in the mind of the spectator. Montage as a bridge between
Laws of aesthetic form; Laws of mind.
Dialectics: “From conflict or collision to a higher unity.” “The dialectic as a leap from quantity (aesthetic form) to quality (transformation of consciousness in the spectator).
Vertical montage1. Metric montage
a) Physiological: photograms resolving into apparent motion
b) Shot length and pacing
2. Rhythmic montagea) Artificially produced movement (logical and alogical)
b) Conflict between frames and syncopation of movement within the frame
3. Tonal montage
4. Associational or overtonal montage
5. Intellectual montage
Vertical montage
METRIC apparent motion pacing
----------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- RHYTHMIC artificial movement (logical)
(alogical) syncopation
----------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- TONAL organization of “dominant” ----------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- OVERTONAL emotional dynamization through
chains of psychological associations ----------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- INTELLECTUAL conceptual; logical deduction
Metric and rhythmic montage
Tonal and overtonal montage
“Intellectual” montage
Dynamic structure and “ecstatic” composition The Odessa steps
Chaotic movement : rhythmic marchingMasses : linesClose-ups : long shotsMovement up : movement down
The stone lions “leap”
