Please, comment on the excerpt of Dziga Vertov's film - Man With the Movie Camera. Any thoughts, interpretations and analysis are welcome.
Follow the link below and post your comments in the comments section:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLykv_SCqj8&feature=related
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The music for this version is composed by a contemporary band - Cinematic Orchestra.
ReplyDeleteKeeping in mind our Professor’s statement at the start of the film, “the eye is the camera and the camera is the eye,” I watched the short film in search of a truth that is closer to reality than today’s modern movie.
ReplyDeleteThe absence of a subject caught my attention. Unlike many of today’s films that stock a single subject or place complete emphasis on the human being, Vertov’s film rejects the necessity of a subject. This unique stance was first apparent to me through his imagery of the still theater. I also found quite interesting and innovative how the seats opened without the force of a person. I found this lack of the human being quite refreshing.
In addition, his eye for geometric and liner shapes is very ascetically pleasing. He used everyday shapes, such as trolley tracks, walking people, and door-rod shadows, to create an array of geometric and linear patterns. He initially shows horizontal and vertical patterns, but then shows the same subjects in a way that created vertical imagery. This juxtaposition unveils how one subject can look quite different from a slightly different perspective.
-Jasmine Niernberger
While Vertov has chosen not to film a single subject, it seems to me that by presenting the series of scenes and images he does show, he himself has become the subject: the man with the movie camera. Additionally, the sense of energy he captures in this film rises to the surface as a subject as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the above excerpt, Vertov's juxtaposing of various sports and athletic activities with abrupt cuts and dramatic shifts in perspective give an overall sense of frenetic energy. While he challenges the viewer to digest a lot of visual information in quick bursts, his use of repetition and symmetric movements (for example: a volleyball sails over a net followed by a hurdle-jumper's leap over a hurdle; footage of people going around a merry-go-round interspersed with footage of motorcyclists racing around a track; etc.) create a sense of unity and rhythm that suggest to me that the movements and energy captured on film are more significant than the details of each scene.
In this excerpt of Man with the Movie Camera, I liked Vertov's choreography of scenes from different sports into a harmonious sequence. His use of slow motion that progresses faster and his filming of the athletes’' movements and the expressions of the athletes and the watchers both gives the impression of an almost frantic dance. Also the various sports, although evidently unrelated, seem to complement each other as if this was a movie with a scenario and a set of actors instead of subjects going about their everyday life. I also liked how some of the subjects being photographed seemed to be responding to Vertov behind his camera which, indirectly, makes Vertov also a subject of his own movie, albeit invisible.
ReplyDeleteThe absence of subject is very striking and very interesting. I also noticed and liked the way the camera functions, and how the whole movie was filmed. I felt like the camera man was conversing with the viewer, and it seems like Vertov had a lot of hidden messages in his film. Although there is not script nor story, the message still seems very present to me. And although I am from a very different social, political, historical background from Vertov, I still feel like I can relate to this movie in a certain way.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that this is what Vertov and the whole Bolchevic movement wanted to do, to be able to reach the most people possible.
Aside from Vertov's brilliant and dynamic use of cinematic techniques such as slow motions, fast forwarding, rewinding, split-screens and many other techniques that strongly boost the film's livelihood, I found a time-related aspect most interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis movie was shot during the late 1920's, and in the beginning of the movie we see Vertov setting up the camera, it's size and complexity do not imply it being easily hidden, or silent. However, throughout the whole film (unless intended) subjects do not seem aware of being filmed and maintain a very natural care-free attitude.
I had read somewhere a couple of years ago that Vertov and his brother used to distract their subjects by making louder continuous sounds, so the the camera's noise would be hidden and the the subjects would get used to the sound and keep going on naturally.
Due to all the techniques Vertov deployed, I would consider the film being maybe a little modernist. I also like how Vertov gives the impression that the camera can go anywhere, like the glass of beer, which is now possible, but hard to achieve in the 20's.