Simplify the following

Question

My session focused on a more tightly defined meaning of ‘montage’: specifically, the techniques that were invented
by Soviet filmmakers in the years between the Russian revolution and the rise of Stalin. These techniques are still used
by filmmakers today and provide exciting opportunities to explore how images, sound and ideas can work together.
‘Soviet montage’ was born out of both ideology and necessity. After the 1917 revolution, film stock was in short
supply, so filmmakers learnt by experimenting with found footage, exploring different ways in which images could be
combined. One of the things they discovered was that audiences would respond to images differently depending on
context. In the ‘Kuleshov experiment’, audiences were shown a close-up of an actor followed by a shot of either a bowl of soup, a coffin, or an attractive woman. They thought that the actor was expressing hunger, grief or desire and
were impressed by his acting, though in fact each of his close-ups used exactly the same footage.
In the early Soviet era there was a huge demand for propaganda, and film was seen as the ideal medium to convey
ideas to a largely illiterate audience. Lenin said, ‘…of all the arts, film is the most important to us’. Filmmakers like
Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov thought that the continuity system was ‘bourgeois’ and created an illusion of
reality: as committed Marxists they believed in ‘dialectic’, where meaning comes from the conflict between ideas.
Eisenstein wanted to use cinema to stir emotions and inspire the audience to revolutionary action.

Answer 1

My session focused on the techniques of 'Soviet montage' invented by filmmakers in Soviet Russia after the revolution. These techniques, still used today, explore how images, sound, and ideas can be combined effectively. The filmmakers experimented with found footage due to a shortage of film stock, learning how context can influence audience perception. This led to the discovery that images can evoke different responses depending on how they are presented. In the era of Soviet propaganda, film was a crucial medium for conveying ideas to the largely illiterate population. Filmmakers like Eisenstein and Vertov rejected the continuity system as bourgeois, opting instead for a dialectic approach where meaning arises from the conflict between ideas. They aimed to use cinema to evoke emotions and inspire revolutionary action.