Vertov's The Man with the Movie Camera, stills
page 1 - page 2 - page 3 - page 4
montage theory
The meta-film:
The film opens by showing a movie being readied for projection in a theater. The title on the film can reads: Man with the Movie Camera.
We observe the process of filmmaking: the operator cranking the camera. . . . Overcranking: by exposing the film through the camera faster than the standard 24 frames per second, the operator achieves slow-motion when the film is projected at standard speed.
A triple exposure shows the camera eye, with a second camera reflected in its lens. Another meta-point: the film we are actually watching likely was shot by the reflected camera rather than the lens we are looking at directly.
Near the end, the camera gives a demonstration of how it operates, then bows and exits.
Throughout the film, we see events (here, firemen on a run) and simultaneously see the events being recorded by the camera.
The camera appears to create events.
The editor:
The film's editor Elizaveta Svilova at work, shown in the film
assembling the film we are watching.
The traffic cop's directional signal, a metaphor for film editing.
Film reels that the editor selects from. In some shots we see labels like "machines,"
A strip of film is shown, followed by its projection.
The camera eye and the editor's eye.
Montage: the editor's art:
This visual sequence from the early part of the film puns on the similarly-sounding Russian words for "eye" and "window," as well as on the name of Vertov's creative group, "Cinema Eye."
The Man with the Movie Camera, stills
page 2 - page 3 - page 4
Montage theory