(MODERNISM) Man With a Movie Camera by Vertov

THEORY

MODERNISM

-It is an emphasis on impressionism and subjectivity in writing (and in visual arts as well); an emphasis on HOW seeing (or reading or perception itself) takes place, rather than on WHAT is perceived. An example of this would be stream-of-consciousness writing.

-It is a rejection of the distinction between "high" and "low" or popular culture, both in choice of materials used to produce art and in methods of displaying, distributing, and consuming art.

TITLE

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA BY VERTOV

SYNOPSIS

The Man with the Movie Camera is an experimental 1929 silent documentary film, with no story and no actors, by Russian director Dziga Vertov, edited by his wife Elizaveta Svilova who helped with the process of deleting and adding new frames into the film.

Vertov’s feature film, produced by the Ukrainian film studio VUFKU, presents urban life in Odessa and other Soviet cities. From dawn to dusk Soviet citizens are shown at work and at play, and interacting with the machinery of modern life. To the extent that it can be said to have “characters,” they are the cameraman of the title and the modern Soviet Union he discovers and presents in the film.

This film is famous for the range of cinematic techniques Vertov invents, deploys or develops, such as double exposure, fast motion, slow motion, freeze frames, jump cuts, split screens, Dutch angles, extreme close-ups, tracking shots, footage played backwards, stop motion animations and a self-reflexive style

ANALYSIS

Man With A Movie Camera may be considered as one of the most influential films. It is very experimental and has reflexive nature. 

It presents itself as a representation of reality by showing the happenings behind the scene of the documentary. It's like a sense of discovery as Vertov and his team explore the world!

By watching the film, you would perfectly understand what Modernism Theory is all about.