First analysis of Man with a Movie Camera
Discuss how far your chosen film or films reflect aesthetic qualities associated with a particular film movement
point
explanation of point
Micro feature
How this corresponds, meaning/link
Man with a Movie Camera reflects the aesthetic qualities associated with the Constructivist movement. Within the mise en scene in the film, we see a diegetic audience in the cinema, watching a camera onscreen, moving of its own accord, and the audience's fascinated reaction to it. The diegetic audience is used to mediate the spectator's response to it. This could be seen as an example of constructivism as it depicts the movement's strong commitment to machinery. Not only does the Constructivist movement celebrate the machine but also explores the mechanics of the human body and human communication through the humanlike personification of the film camera, moving of its own accord through the use of stop motion. The film's constructivist aesthetic adds to the meaning that art is no longer just a painting: cinema is art. In the same way that modernism includes the machinery of cinema to outline the future, Man With a Movie Camera signifies the fetishisation of the camera and the strong significance it will have on the next generation.
Similarly, in Man With a Movie Camera, multiple cuts are used per second during the end sequence to make up the extreme fast pace of the editing, making use of the Kuleshov effect. This could represent the small fragments that were used in the constructivist movement as part of the technical organisation of materials, which would additionally reflect the soviet montage movement. Moreover, the sequence of fast paced editing would require lots of work to put together, which could also be said to represent constructivism's celebration of work and labour. In terms of how meaning is generated, the many shots act as a kind of summary of the film, in which Vertov celebrates the industrial age and the Soviet Union. This is exemplified in the repeated shots of trains. The editing of the sequence, which starts at a fast pace, continues to increase until the use of overlapping motion occurs. The pace of the editing is so fast at this point - cuts from the line of bottles and spoons being used as instruments, to faces, and finally to the cinema itself - that the transition to overlapping motion is seamless. This was a revolutionary technique of the time; the use of it was influential. It reflects modernism in that it is an example of experimentation. Modernism gave people the free reign to be experimental. Vertov is eschewing classical forms of art by demonstrating his inspiration from the constructivist movement.
Reference to the slow motion shots of the athlete, a chronical of movement, showing movement in all its different forms; reference to the futurists.
The images of ballerinas are a rejection of still life painting and a celebration of the camera, showing it as more impressive/forward thinking. It is a subtle reference to Edgar Degas, Vertov eschews Degas and classical art , and enforces modernism.
point
explanation of point
Micro feature
How this corresponds, meaning/link
Man with a Movie Camera reflects the aesthetic qualities associated with the Constructivist movement. Within the mise en scene in the film, we see a diegetic audience in the cinema, watching a camera onscreen, moving of its own accord, and the audience's fascinated reaction to it. The diegetic audience is used to mediate the spectator's response to it. This could be seen as an example of constructivism as it depicts the movement's strong commitment to machinery. Not only does the Constructivist movement celebrate the machine but also explores the mechanics of the human body and human communication through the humanlike personification of the film camera, moving of its own accord through the use of stop motion. The film's constructivist aesthetic adds to the meaning that art is no longer just a painting: cinema is art. In the same way that modernism includes the machinery of cinema to outline the future, Man With a Movie Camera signifies the fetishisation of the camera and the strong significance it will have on the next generation.
Similarly, in Man With a Movie Camera, multiple cuts are used per second during the end sequence to make up the extreme fast pace of the editing, making use of the Kuleshov effect. This could represent the small fragments that were used in the constructivist movement as part of the technical organisation of materials, which would additionally reflect the soviet montage movement. Moreover, the sequence of fast paced editing would require lots of work to put together, which could also be said to represent constructivism's celebration of work and labour. In terms of how meaning is generated, the many shots act as a kind of summary of the film, in which Vertov celebrates the industrial age and the Soviet Union. This is exemplified in the repeated shots of trains. The editing of the sequence, which starts at a fast pace, continues to increase until the use of overlapping motion occurs. The pace of the editing is so fast at this point - cuts from the line of bottles and spoons being used as instruments, to faces, and finally to the cinema itself - that the transition to overlapping motion is seamless. This was a revolutionary technique of the time; the use of it was influential. It reflects modernism in that it is an example of experimentation. Modernism gave people the free reign to be experimental. Vertov is eschewing classical forms of art by demonstrating his inspiration from the constructivist movement.
Reference to the slow motion shots of the athlete, a chronical of movement, showing movement in all its different forms; reference to the futurists.
Excellent writing - a possible addition might incorporate the following:
ReplyDelete"Art is no longer just a painting: cinema is art."
Could you also comment on the fact that constructivism was a deliberate movement away from bourgeoisie forms of art (i.e. easel-based paintings of the classical era)?
Mr Boon