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August 1996, Week 2

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Subject:
From:
Donald Larsson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 8 Aug 1996 09:59:46 -0600
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David Desser comments:
"The laserdisc of _Birth of a Nation_ looks almost as if Griffith shot the
film to be shown in slow-motion in many parts, especially the non-battle
scenes. However, I am reasonably certain that there's no slo-mo in
_Potemkin_, but some scenes *feel* like slow motion due to overlapped
action or repeated action. The same thing occurs in _October_ in scenes
like Karensky going up the staircase in the Winter Palace, or the draw
bridge opening as the horse and buggy hangs precariously over the side.
Slow motion often has a lyrical feel to it (e.g. _Elvira Madigan_) or an
ironically lyrical feel to it (e.g. Kurosawa and Peckinpah). Eisenstein,
in _Potemkin_ and _October_ at least, didn't go in for lyricism, and I
don't remember any slo-mo in _Strike_, but plenty of scenes extended
dramatically to *feel* like time has been expanded. That's the best I can
tell you on that score."
 
 
It just struck me that the mechanics of slo-mo may be one reason that
Eisenstein *did* use overlapping editing--it was actually easier to ensure
the manipulation of time via the editing table than the projector, which
also depended on the speed and timing of the cameraman and the projectionist.
(Of course, it also perfectly accords with E's theories of montage--but how
many of those were written after the fact, as an explanation of what might
have been created on a more contingent basis?)
 
Was standardized, electric projection readily available by the time that
Clair and Leger were doing their experiments?
 
I can't think of examples from Melies or Griffith's Biograph shorts either,
although they did just about everything else between them (and I'm *not*
making any claim about them "inventing" anything here!).
 
BEZHIN MEADOW is particularly problematic, because--as far as I know--it
only exists in the documents and some still shots (there is a reconstruction
of the film using those stills).
 
Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)
 
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