Fully explain Eisenstein five theories of montage
Montage is an editing technique that can be used in many different ways. The Russian director Sergei Eisenstein had five theories of montage, in which each one uses montage, but in different stylistic and narrative ways.
The first montage technique was the Metric montage. This form of editing is where each scene is exactly the same time frame, and has the same number of frames. We put into practice metric montage editing, where each of the shots is precisely one second long.
The short sequence equates exactly eight seconds long, and only uses eight different shots.
Rhythmic Montage editing is where scenes fitted together have a sense of a natural rhythmic beat, where not all the scenes have the precise same beat. Often the beat is cut to the movement of something happening on the screen, or the composition of the shot itself. This is mainly used to get an emotion linked to the scene over to the spectator. An example of rhythmic montage would be the shower scene in Psycho, where Marion is murdered, there is a rhythm to the stabbing, used to build tension and thrill towards the audience.
Tonal Montage editing is where the montage does not appear in the edits, but instead it is to do with the content of the film. There is no rhythm to the cuts, and timing of the edits does not matter to the director. An example of this would be the opening scene from the film Don’t Look Now, the sense of rhythm is absent and the context builds as it progresses. The context of this scene is that whilst their children are playing outside, the parents are inside. We feel something is not right before we know what is happening or has happened.
Over Tonal Montage, or Associational Montage editing is a combination of Metric, Rhythmic, and Tonal Montage. It is a less used style of montage editing as it is extremely hard to create. An example of Over Tonal Montage can be found in the film Magnolia, where the characters are all listening to a song on the radio, the camera and editing are made to link all three of the montage
styles together. It is hard to create as the three montage techniques themselves are very different from one another.
Intellectual Montage editing is where two scenes with lesser meaning are combined to create a greater meaning. An Example of this can be found towards the end of the film Apocalypse Now, where Willard walks into the camp and kills the Colonel. Edited within this is a scene of the villager slaughtering a cow. Both the sacrificial cow and Colonel Kurtz are connected through the use of intellectual editing, as both are killed at the same time. Kurtz’s death and the slaughter of the cow are both powerful scenes on their own, but the linking of them together makes the scene stand out more.