Soviet Montages & Kuleshov Effect

Soviet Montages

Soviet Montages are a type of filmmaking that is made to immerse those watching, and to bring people watching to the edge of their seat with unpredictability. 

The main focus on Soviet Montages was the editing, cuts can excite the spectator, and can make those watching excited, stimulated even. Unlike Continuity Editing, where locations are kept very similar as are the actions, Soviet Montages are more focussed on cutting, overlapping too.

Sergei Eisenstein

Born into a middle-class family in 1898, Riga, Latvia, in his younger years (young adult), he decided to take on engineering and architecture, like his father.

In 1920, Sergei moved to Moscow, and began his career in theatre, he worked for Proletkult. His productions under this organisation were 'Gas masks, Wiseman and Listen Moscow'. Eisenstein's first full-length feature film was made five years later in 1925, named 'Strike'.

Another film made the same year, named 'The Battleship Potemkin' was critically acclaimed, it was one of mis most successful, if not, the most successful film he made and it is known infamously. 

It was the film named 'October: Ten Days That Shook The World', that caused his slight downfall in home territory, in fact, the other countries outside the Soviet Union praised Eisenstein. However, in his homeland, he was very well received and soon had to make self-criticism articles and other commitments to redeem himself.

Come 1930, Eisenstein had gone to American soil, he was offered the opportunity to work in the United States by Jesse L. Lasky on behalf of Paramount Pictures.

Metric Montage

Work is done under a certain number of frames, it cuts to this number even if there's something important in the shot. This can make it so that certain shots are not long, or drawn out, also it can be used to draw out the response of the audience without losing them, keeping them on their toes.

Rhythmic Montage

Work is done based on continuity, the idea to make visual continuity in the edit. Giving the film it's own sense of flow that can't be achieved unless you time it with a rhythmic mindset.

Tonal Montage

Work is done based on the emotional impact of the shots, to get more of a response from the audience in a complex way.