Week 6: Formalism versus Realism: Montage and Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-Scène vs. Montage• Mise-en-scène – “setting the scene”
– Organization of Space
• Montage – (from monter – to build, assemble)
– The assemblage of shots, the editing.
– Organization of Time

Mise-en-scène has two major visual components:
1. Design of the three-dimensional space
2. Composition of the two-dimensional frame (also referred to “mise-en-shot”, “setting the shot”)

Mise-en-scène serves many functions in media:
-To provide a visual backdrop
-To communicate place and time
-To contribute to the tone or mood
-To communicate character relationships
-To communicate character emotion or state of mind
-To present ideas and themes
Montage: a transitional sequence composed of edited images, the juxtaposition of these shots gives significance
Functions of Montage:
1. To manipulate time and space
2. To communicate meaning, theme
3. To build emotion
Eisenstein’s “Montage of Attractions”• Shot as “attraction”
• To jolt or shock the audience
• Dialectics (thesis + antithesis = synthesis)
• Montage as a collision
• To convey a greater meaning than the sum of the shots

Eisenstein’s Aesthetic:
Rebellion against western narrative conventions:
• Natural locations rather than studio sets
• Used non-professional Actors, not stars
• Social Groups rather than Individuals
• “Typage”, “actors” chosen by the type they represent

"Strike!" (1925)
-Use of close ups
-Editing
-Individuals (Woman getting trampled) vs. Group (soldiers)

"The Godfather" (1972)
-Use of thematic montage helps the audience understand implied images and the deeper meaning behind them
-The use of montage in the Godfather is similar to that in Strike! in that they both use the editing sequence to build suspense and evoke a more dramatic effect