Man with A Movie Camera: paragraph





To what extent can it be said that your chosen film movement represents an expressionist as opposed to a realist approach to filmmaking? Make detailed references to examples from the silent films you have studied.

In the sport and leisure section in Vertov's 'Man with A Movie Camera', through the groundbreaking techniques used the modern viewer is able appreciate the contemporary potential of what a film could do. This sequence begins with a shot of a carousel, using the 'match dissolve' effect to signify that time has moved forward, thus linking back to the idea of expressionism through the abstraction of reality: the spectator experiences a trancelike notion that they have time-travelled into the near future. At the time it was regarded as a very experimental technique instead of simply cutting between shots. The effect it would have had on the contemporary audience would be that it dazzled them and equally had a "magical" impact on them. 

 During the athletics segment, Vertov uses the slow motion effect to once again show the potential of what a film camera could do. The camera focuses on a woman throwing a discus in long shot. The connotations of using this effect is to allow the spectator to admire a Russian woman showing off her strength, robustness and athleticism and brings forward the context of how different the "Eastern" woman differed from that of the western/capitalist woman who was restricted to the home and subordinate to the man. For a contemporary audience, especially amongst women, this would have been a source of patriotism. The use of slow motion also highlights just how groundbreaking Vertov's film was. Slow motion is commonly used in contemporary sports broadcasting, and its origins can be traced backed to the pioneering filmmaking of the silent era. Essentially, then, filmmakers like Vertov, embracing this new form of technology, essentially invented the language of film as we understand it today.






Comments

  1. JCoSS Media Dept18 October 2018 at 01:09

    "At the time it was regarded as a very experimental technique"

    This is rather vague - "at the time" is too non-specific. Also, as a whole, this paragraph needs more reference to constructivism and modernism - use these terms to contextualise your writing. How exactly does this clip relate to those artistic movements? Although the question is about expressionism and realism, constructivism and modernism are essentially expressionist in nature, so you can still refer back to them.

    Mr Boon

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