Man with a Movie Camera, a film from 1929 directed by Dziga Vertov, is a film unlike any contemporary movie we would see today that may hold more significance than most modern blockbusters from Hollywood. This film takes place over the course of one day, and presents how extraordinary everyday life can be. Vertov uses no actors and tells no story in this film. Instead, he focuses on the technology of the camera he is using to film, and shows his audience what the kino-eye sees and what really goes into making a move. This kino-eye (literally cinema-eye) and film itself is the focus of Man with a Movie Camera. Through crane and tracking shots, varied angles, and montage, Vertov becomes the literal man with a movie camera and demonstrates what
…show more content…
In this scene, we are shown the camera man lying on train tracks as the train is rushing toward him. Vertov quick cuts to footage at a low angle from beneath the train as it whirls overhead. Vertov then reveals the camera to be buried beneath the tracks in order to achieve this angle. By showing the camera under the tracks, Vertov breaks the audience’s suspension of disbelief and shows them the truth. While the cameraman may strive for amazing shots and angles, it would be impossible to achieve them without the power of the kino-eye. This train sequence is also one of the earliest insights into the actual filming process (which we see again with the car sequence). Vertov, throughout this film strives to demonstrate the beauty of cinematography and the truth behind the film we are …show more content…
Several scenes in Man with a Movie Camera use montage to quickly show several scenes back to back in order to show, what he calls a collision of ideas. In one instance, Vertov shows still images of a woman or a child, then cuts to his editor, and wife, sitting at her station, working on film reels. She is shown cutting and splicing these frames of images together in a dark room. Then, the montage quickly begins showing the product of her labor and the film that the original stills we saw come to life as their own little movie being to play. Vertov uses this element of montage to collide the idea of Yelizaveta, the editor woman, hunched over working on these short films and the idea of her editing Man with a Movie Camera. Through montage, Vertov is again holding a mirror to his work and asking the audience to see the truth that only the kino-eye can
In this scene, we are shown the camera man lying on train tracks as the train is rushing toward him. Vertov quick cuts to footage at a low angle from beneath the train as it whirls overhead. Vertov then reveals the camera to be buried beneath the tracks in order to achieve this angle. By showing the camera under the tracks, Vertov breaks the audience’s suspension of disbelief and shows them the truth. While the cameraman may strive for amazing shots and angles, it would be impossible to achieve them without the power of the kino-eye. This train sequence is also one of the earliest insights into the actual filming process (which we see again with the car sequence). Vertov, throughout this film strives to demonstrate the beauty of cinematography and the truth behind the film we are …show more content…
Several scenes in Man with a Movie Camera use montage to quickly show several scenes back to back in order to show, what he calls a collision of ideas. In one instance, Vertov shows still images of a woman or a child, then cuts to his editor, and wife, sitting at her station, working on film reels. She is shown cutting and splicing these frames of images together in a dark room. Then, the montage quickly begins showing the product of her labor and the film that the original stills we saw come to life as their own little movie being to play. Vertov uses this element of montage to collide the idea of Yelizaveta, the editor woman, hunched over working on these short films and the idea of her editing Man with a Movie Camera. Through montage, Vertov is again holding a mirror to his work and asking the audience to see the truth that only the kino-eye can