Influenced by the “trans-sense poetry (zaum) practiced by Russian and Italian poets,” as well as his four years of music studies at Petrograd’s Institute of Neuropsychology, Dziga Vertov experimented with mixing various sounds created by human voices, whether they formed speech or imitated environmental noises (Nowell-Smith 92). This interest in environmental symphonies, of course, pervades his films, as we have seen in The Man with the Movie Camera (1929), and Vertov’s poetic, visual rhythm further accentuates the power conveyed in the Utopian images of this film (Nowell-Smith 93). Although The Man is silent, it was originally accompanied by live orchestras in theaters, and since its release, there have been several soundtracks created to accompany Vertov’s visuals (http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Man_with_a_Movie_Camera).
Out of economic necessity, Soviet filmmakers, unlike the emigres who sought to preserve the slower-paced, traditional Russian style, developed quick montage, usually created by means of re-editing already existing footage into new films, and began to employ other film techniques – for example, split screen, dissolves (Nowell-Smith 167). Undoubtedly, Dziga Vertov’s musical training contributed to the visible, “musical” effect of his silent city symphony, thereby opening up his audiences’ minds to the very essence of the unified “masses” as the hero/heroine of his experimental film (Nowell-Smith 170).
Even after the birth of sound, the silent Soviet cinema reached its peak in 1929 (Nowell-Smith 174). One can only wonder if this had something to do with the fast-paced, rhythmically edited cinema already established in the style adopted by the nationalized film industry and popularized by Sergei Eisenstein, Vertov, and the like. In any case, the Soviet industry’s clever substitute for recorded sound transposed beautifully on the screen in the form of utopian montages of Vertov’s city. It not only withstood the test of time, but also probably hurried the progress of technological developments within the film industry. When those changes, namely sound, came on the scene, Dziga Vertov and the Soviet montage were ready.
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Olivia, You present an interesting look at how Vertov used rhythm, pacing, and montage to create a "symphonic" portrait of city without using recorded sound in his film. I like that you also mentioned what other Soviet artists (those who stayed in Russia and those who emigrated) were doing at the time.
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