Montage / Lesson 3 / Cinéma Pur

From the 1930s to the 1950s, montage sequences often combined numerous short shots with special optical effects (fades, dissolves, split screens, double and triple exposures) dance and music.

The Cinéma Pur movement was to create a cinema that focused on the pure elements of film like motion, light, visual composition, and rhythm. It was begun by European filmmakers René Clair, Fernand Léger, [Hans Richter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Richter_(artist), Viking Eggeling, Walter Ruttmann, Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. Often these abstract art films showed patterns in motion, creating visually pleasing or intriguing compositions that reflected cinema’s essential power. Films like Man With A Movie Camera, Ballet Mécanique, Symphony Diagonale, and Berlin: Symphony of a Great City are quintessential examples of Cinéma Pur.

For this exercise, you will experiment with the layering of indexical material to create new visual associations and meanings using a select range of optical effects. Experiment superimposing contrasting imagery — abstract and realistic, light and dark, graphic and photographic, fast and slow, human and machine. Be prepared to discuss the emergence of this third image with a statement of intent.

Lecture Videos

  1. Cinéma Pur: History and basic concepts

(Cinéma Pur Lecture Video)

  1. Cinéma Pur: Layer Composition Basics

(Layer Composition Basics Demonstration)

Lecture Notes

(Cinéma Pur Lecture Slides

Resources

Homework

Assignments

  1. Record and import three, 30-second clips using your preferred camera.
  2. Find or create three hi-con images
  3. Create three ~30 second montage sequences with various audio tracks
  • Layer Opacity
  • Layer Mode (Add, et al)
  • Layer Mask (still or moving)
  1. Using longer clips as a backing track and mixing in elements over it.
  2. Using clips with high motion vs slow motion, motion in different directions.

Notes:

  • Recordings for these assignments can be in h.264.
  • Use ProRes if you plan to use them for further editing in Final Cut Pro, Resolve, After Effects, etc.

Review Questions and Further Discussion

  1. What is Cinéma Pur?
  • Story/Narrative Reduction
  • Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie opening shot
  • Film / cinema as an art form separate from literature / theater
  • Signature techniques include:
    • Stop motion
    • Slow motion
    • Sped up film
    • Timelapse
  1. Introduction to Composition
  • Mixing
  • Fading
  • Additive vs Overlay
  • Transparency / Alpha channels
  • Masking
    • Luma Key (brightness)
    • Chroma Key (color)
  • Mattes