Soviet Montage and Realism

We owe a lot to the Russians, when it comes to film. Many Russian directors and editors were the first to venture out into the field of editing. They dabbled a lot on the theory of montage and explored techniques not yet seen at the time. For example, Pudovkin coined the concept of "Constructive Editing". He wanted to break out of classic editing and try something new. He started working with illusion. He could film a scene that gave the illusion of a man falling out of a building, when that didn't happen in reality. Pudovkin was very creative when it came to the idea of linking clips together. One effect created from this is well known as the Kulshov Effect. This editing technique consists of linking two shots, that when separated mean one thing, and combining them to give them a new meaning. An example is a shot of a man and a shot of a bowl of soup. Separated they don't mean much, but when they are put together you get the feeling that the man is hungry. Eisenstein, another Russian Filmmaker, took it a step further. Instead of combining simple shots, Eisenstein combined scenes. The most famous example of this is the Odessa Step Sequence. In this video you can see a shot of a baby rolling down a flight of stairs and a shot of a lady in shock. Separately then can mean one thing but when combined mean a whole new thing. We owe it to these Russian Filmmakers for their contributions to the editing world.

A French film critic, Andre Bazin, wasn't too keen on Classic and Formalistic film styles, however. He personally believed that montage was only one of the editing techniques that could be applied to film. He favored realism, and enjoyed the long shots and lack of edits. Him, alongside other realism enthusiasts, wanted to make films more realistic. That in itself, is the goal of Realism. In order to make Realism work, shots must be held very long. This helps the audience observe the surroundings and become familiar with the setting.