Sergei Eisenstein Lecture Notes

Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948)

Russian Post-Revolutionary Theatre

• Two main styles:

  • Moscow Art Theatre:

  • Focused on psychological realism.

  • Replicated reality accurately.

  • Emphasized dialogue.

  • Constructivism:

  • Anti-realistic.

  • Broke down reality for manipulation.

Eisenstein's Constructivist Style

• Eisenstein started with constructivism in theatre.

• He later used these techniques in film.

• Elements like dialogue, set, lighting, and costumes should be neutral.

  • They should be treated as material to be manipulated, like color or sound.

• Each shot:

  • Should be understandable.

  • Should be neutral.

Inspiration from Japanese Kabuki Theatre

• Exaggerated stylization:

  • Distorts events and facts, focusing on physical form.

• Stylized gestures:

  • Important as sounds, costumes, and decor.

• Strong, abstract form:

  • Meaning comes from the ensemble.

  • Unlike Western film where elements support the story.

• Kabuki's meaning:

  • Not just the plot.

Montage of Attractions

• Elements made equal:

  • Lighting, composition, acting, camera work, and story avoid crude realism.

• Each element:

  • Should be like a circus act.

  • Giving a psychological impression.

  • Different from mainstream cinema where action is most important.

• Film:

  • A series of shocks from different elements.

Early vs. Later Eisenstein

• Early Eisenstein:

  • Each shot is a stimulus.

• Later Eisenstein:

  • Elements within each shot have attractions that agree or disagree.

• Attractions:

  • Shaped into textures.

• Long takes:

  • Eisenstein thought they were wasteful.

  • A shot should be as short as possible.

Neutralization of Elements

• Neutralization can be:

  • Transference:

  • Moving the main feeling from one element to another.

  • Elements can:

    • Support each other.

    • Conflict to create a new effect.

    • Create a needed effect.

  • Synesthesia (multisensory experience):

  • Elements combine at once.

• Eisenstein quote:

  • Kabuki makes you 'hear movement' and 'see sound.'

Eisenstein's Example

• A character leaves a castle:

  • Castle shown at the back.

  • Smaller castle shown.

  • Abstract colors used.

  • Distance expressed with shamisen music.

Kuleshov Effect

• The meaning of a shot depends on the shots around it

Vsevolod Pudovkin vs. Eisenstein

• Vsevolod Pudovkin:

  • Filmmaker's job:

  • Reconstruct the world's sense.

  • Film should:

  • Show hidden relationships.

• Eisenstein:

  • Cinema should:

  • Create new meanings by image collisions.

Attractions, Cells, and Montage

• Shots are cells; montage is the animation.

• Eisenstein compared montage to ideograms or haiku.

• Japanese/Chinese ideogram:

  • Mouth + bird = sing

  • Child + mouth = scream

  • New concept is created by putting things together.

Pudovkin's Passive Receiver

• Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin:

  • Knew Lev Kuleshov's work.

• Pudovkin saw the audience as passive:

  • Meaning is given by the filmmaker through editing.

Haiku Example

• Haiku:

  • A crow on a branch in autumn.

  • Sense perceptions provided by the author.

  • Unified sense created by the reader.

  • Psychological impact.

Conflict as the Main Principle

• Conflict organizes:

  • Graphic direction, scales, volumes, darkness/lightness, focal lengths.

• Montage can be:

  • Metric (shot duration).

  • Rhythmic (shot content).

  • Tonal (emotional meanings).

  • Overtonal (combination).

  • Intellectual (image/idea collision).

• Shots stimulate; interaction creates meaning.

Statement on Sound

• Natural sound will hurt montage.

• Use sound in a contrasting way.

• First sound experiments should be separate from images.

Non-Realistic Use of Colour and Square Screen

• 'Ivan the Terrible, part II' uses color non-realistically.

• Eisenstein wanted a square screen:

  • All directions are equal.

  • A rectangle looks like a window on reality.

The Theme

• Each shot shows the general idea.

• Putting details together creates a general image.

Discovery of the Theme

• Nature is not easy to see.

• Truth comes from changing nature and history.

• The artist finds the true form.

• Reality must destroy realism.

Film as Creative Process

• Film is a creative process for the audience.

• Conflict brings unity.

• Consciousness is transformed by what can't be said.