Hayward gives an essential guide for anyone interested in film. She covers a wide range
of key genres, movements, theories, and production terms. This article touches on the
role of the editor: they come up with a rough cut (director’s cut), then changes are made
to produce a fine cut before the final cut is ready for the post-synchronized sound mixer.
She explains the four most important categories of editing. For each category she
provides examples and the editors who have coined the terms. She also explains the
differences between these features. Readers can understand the differences between jump
cuts, continuity cuts, match cuts and cross-cuts. She also covers the differences between
montage cuts, compilation shots and cutaways.
Hayward, S 2000, “Soviet cinema/school” in Cinema studies: the Key Concepts, 2nd ed., Routeledge, London.
Haywards chapter on the Soviet cinema/school gives a chronological recount of the History of Soviet Cinema during the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917. She begins by contrasting the state of Soviet cinema pre-revolution (futuristic, inspired by abstract forms of European art – the key focus being technique and dispelling of fixed meaning) and post-revolution (emergence of constructivism, key idea of artists, intellectuals, and working class operating together). It was during this era Eisenstein, Vertov, Kuleshov, and Shub, came to the forefront of Soviet cinema with their montage techniques. Eisenstein arguably had the most radical idea of montage, and was the most famous internationally for this. Vertov, over the years, rejected fiction film and transferred to the documentary vein of montage and established his own kinoki (kino-eye) group which emphasised film truth while celebrating industrialisation. Kuleshov researched shots as ‘building blocks’ which derived meaning from context and experimented with ‘creative geography’. Shub created her documentary work by compiling old, preexisting footage and this has been noted as being one of the earliest kinds of this montage.
This chapter by Hayward was effective in highlighting the different types of montage theorists and methods which came about during the aftermath of the Revolution. Her linear writing style made it easier to digest and link the effects of the Revolution to the montage styles and theories of the major filmmakers at the time.