Montage and Mise-en-Scene

Thinking through montage and mise-en-scene ‘It is important to recognize that narrative is neither primary nor necessary to cinema, and it forms no putative essence of the medium’ -- Sean Cubitt What other ways do we think through film? Montage Mise-en-scene

Narrative Montage Rocky montage In narrative montage connections between shots are used to drive the story forward, and to show relationships of time and place. This is The most technique in modern filmmaking Example We see a man buying tickets at an airline counter, followed by an image of an aeroplane in flight, then the same man riding in a taxi, and we understand that he has travelled to another town or city. *Taken from Brian Moon, Viewing Terms (2004:118) Rocky montage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwpN_kGKj_Q

Ideational Montage In ideational montage images are linked together to suggest an idea or to comment on the action. Ideational montage does not attempt to create a unified time and space, but instead juxtaposes heterogeneous objects and events for the purpose of creating abstract, symbolic or metaphorical meanings.

Soviet Montage Sergei Eisenstein proceeded to forcefully engineer cinematic consciousness through his ‘montage of attractions’ that was designed to ‘shock’ the thoughts of the spectator into thinking through filmic movement. Eisenstein’s Montage Techniques Juxtaposition Metric montage: the temporal metre with which individual shots are assembled, it doesn’t refer to the content of shot, but the way shot lengths are shortened or extended in order to produce a ‘pulse-beat’ Rhythmic montage: the tempo of cinematographic movement within the composition

Dziga Vertov – Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Mise-en-scene Mise-en-scène is a French term and originates in the theater. It means, literally, ‘put in the scene’. Refers to almost everything that goes into the composition of the shot, including: framing movement of the camera and characters lighting set design and the general visual environment sound as it helps elaborate the composition. Mise-en-scène can be defined as the articulation of cinematic space, and it is precisely space that it is about. From Robert Kolker, Film Form and Culture (2001)

Die Hard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDQ19kRGkw

Effects/affects of mise-en-scene Spatial articulation of: Mental states Metaphors Moods, sensations, desires Aesthetic figures Abstract ideas