Research - Dziga Vertov

Dziga Vertov - Dziga Vertov, also known as Denis Kaufman, was a soviet pioneer documentary film maker and newsreel director, as well as a cinema theorist. His theories and practices influenced the cinema verité style of documentary film making and the Dziga Vertov group, a radical film making cooperative which was active from 1968 to 1972. His most famous film was Man with a movie camera, produced in 1929, which depicts a day in Russian city. However, the film was actually shot in multiple cities over the course of four years. His film making aesthetic was driven by his political beliefs as a communist and he was heavily influenced by Eisenstein’s use of montage. Vertov’s aim was to capture ‘film truth’, being fragments of actuality which, when arranged together, reveal a deeper truth that cannot be seen by the naked eye. In the kino-pravada series, Vertov focused on everyday experiences in places such as schools, bars etc., however he would sometimes film this using a hidden camera, without asking for permission. The cinematography in these episodes is functional, unelaborate and simple. A credos used by Vertov, ‘life as it is’ means to record life as it would be without the camera present. ‘life caught unawares’ means to record life when surprised and provoked, by the presence of a camera. He also used slow motion, fast motion and other camera techniques as a way to dissect an image. For example, in Man with a Movie Camera, two trains are shown almost melting into each other. Although we are taught to see trains as not riding that close, Vertov tried to portray the actual sight of two trains passing.

Reflection - I found Vertov's style of film making interesting. I like how in 'Man with a Movie Camera' he uses different filming techniques to make the shot look a certain way. I also like that he films the truth, as opposed to being staged. In terms of my future production, I could take inspiration from his use of filming technique, for I could create an interesting and abstract shot of a mountain range, if I chose to base my production around the mountains.