Advanced Editing notes (3;4)

3:
a) Pudovski's concept of constructive editing was that long shots were too close to reality, so only close-ups, textures, symbols, and other selected details should be used by filmmakers. He believed these montages were the most effective way to convey expressively the idea underlying the complex jumble of real life. He manifested this concept by juxtaposing different shots in order to create new meanings of objects or actions. Yet he did not want to overuse this technique extensively because he thought it would be intrusive like D.W. Griffith's use of close-ups.

b) The Kuleshov effect is when their is a sequence of shots to suggests that their is a certain connection between these objects or people. This effect shows that juxtaposed images is what creates emotion, not the actor's performance. It is linking fragmented details to produce unified action. An example of this in a modern movie is the Tree of Life. In this movie, the greenery of the forest is sometimes followed by a sequence of different view of the outside earth. The lack of dialogue also supplements the idea that is trying to be conveyed in the film.

c)Eisenstein produced a collision montage with contrasting images, for that is what he believed life was all about.He believed shots needed to be contrasted to produce a new meaning; the shots couldn't be too linked. He considered it a mystical process. This is shown in the Odessa steps scene when Eisenstein begins the sequence with people running down the steps, but he contrasts this idea of a fast pace with a mother slowly picking up her injured child in the middle of the frantic scenery. This contrasts illustrates the emotion given between the mother and her injured child.

4:
a)Andre Bazin was frustrated with the much of the editing process. He believed that editing could destroy the effectiveness of a scene. Distortions in using formalist techniques, especially thematic ediing, can violate the complexities of reality. Formalists were egocentric and manipulative. Thus, in his own film making, he condoned the idea of subtle cuts to preserve the realism within the film, and the narrative.

b) Realist editors strive for continuity and coverage within their films; thus it gives a more realistic effect on the audience. In order to achieve this, the editing must be very subtle and not distracting to the harmony between the shots. In this case, the sensitivity of the artist. In this case, filmmakers must be modest, self effacing and a patient observer to see where reality leads. This, in turn, reflects the ideas of wonder and the mysteries of life which is the desired goal for realist filmmakers.

c) Some techniques that realist filmmakers use long shots, wide screen, lengthy takes, deep focus, panning, craning, tilting, or tracking rather than cutting to individual shots. Realist believe the best films were when the artists personal vision is held in delicate balance with the objective nature of the medium. Realist editing is powerful to the audience, for it can relate to them in the most powerful way as opposed to classicism or formalism.