Man with a Movie Camera Journal
“Man with a movie camera”
For some reason I related this film to Andy Warhol, don’t ask me why. Then read it was made by a guy from the soviet union, which changed my expectations a lot.
I got to say that a movie from 1929 didn't sound very exiting.
This film is just fantastic. I thought Koyaanisqatsi was the ground zero when talking about documentary-like-experimental-films, so now I dont respect Godfrey Reggio as much as I did before. I mean Vertov is the true genius.
I’m assuming this is an experimental film, but for that matter; is Koyaanisqatsi an experimental film? Or is this a documentary? Again, the ambiguity of cinema.
Now, although it is a really interesting film, I got to attribute part of my excitement to the music from “The cinematic Orchestra” which I dare yo say builds 50% of the film, maybe less, but I remark; music is really important in this types of films.
From the usual film-making aspect (sound, acting, lightning, etc) there’s not much to talk about.
Editing is the major thing; Vertov tried to join two clips together and make them relate in some way, and the film is built over that, lots of non-related clips that are somehow related, with the man with the movie camera in the top layer.
It probably would not have been very exiting to watch the entire film without music.
Now, why the “Man with a movie camera”? That man is Vertov, for all I know. The film could exist without having the shots of the man. I’m guessing that Vertov thought the film would need some kind of narrative consistency for the viewer to attach onto, otherwise the film would be complete chaos, it would make no sense. OR it was his self cameo, or a cameo to film-making in general, with the man going around filming everything in a very curious and passionate way.
One aspect I cant ignore is the use of the the split-screen, it appeared a couple of times during the film. I, of course, thought of my Senior Project where I also used split-screen (unlike Godfrey
For some reason I related this film to Andy Warhol, don’t ask me why. Then read it was made by a guy from the soviet union, which changed my expectations a lot.
I got to say that a movie from 1929 didn't sound very exiting.
This film is just fantastic. I thought Koyaanisqatsi was the ground zero when talking about documentary-like-experimental-films, so now I dont respect Godfrey Reggio as much as I did before. I mean Vertov is the true genius.
I’m assuming this is an experimental film, but for that matter; is Koyaanisqatsi an experimental film? Or is this a documentary? Again, the ambiguity of cinema.
Now, although it is a really interesting film, I got to attribute part of my excitement to the music from “The cinematic Orchestra” which I dare yo say builds 50% of the film, maybe less, but I remark; music is really important in this types of films.
From the usual film-making aspect (sound, acting, lightning, etc) there’s not much to talk about.
Editing is the major thing; Vertov tried to join two clips together and make them relate in some way, and the film is built over that, lots of non-related clips that are somehow related, with the man with the movie camera in the top layer.
It probably would not have been very exiting to watch the entire film without music.
Now, why the “Man with a movie camera”? That man is Vertov, for all I know. The film could exist without having the shots of the man. I’m guessing that Vertov thought the film would need some kind of narrative consistency for the viewer to attach onto, otherwise the film would be complete chaos, it would make no sense. OR it was his self cameo, or a cameo to film-making in general, with the man going around filming everything in a very curious and passionate way.
One aspect I cant ignore is the use of the the split-screen, it appeared a couple of times during the film. I, of course, thought of my Senior Project where I also used split-screen (unlike Godfrey