Thursday, September 15, 2016
From Eisenstein to Madonna
Eisenstein's embraced a theory of montage that utilized quick, jump cuts to rouse his viewers to political action. Nowhere is his technique more fully realized than in the Odessa Steps sequence from his 1925 film Battleship Potemkin. Fast forward to our own day. One could argue that the movies that best exemplify his style are not political in nature but instead music videos first popularized by MTV in the 1980's. What is the role of quick jump cuts in music videos? Do videos have a narrative -- or do they have another purpose? Is there a political message to a Madonna video? What is the connection between Soviet Montage and the Material Girl?
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One possible roll of quick jump cuts in music videos popularized in the eighties is the effect of discombobulation. While there do exist music videos that intend to tell a story, the videos in the style in Madonna and other pop stars of the eighties are intentionally more shocking and are meant to complicate the audience’s view. The juxtaposing images of the music videos is a more direct way to send a message to the audience, rather than to entertain them as movies do. Although the intention of music videos is indeed often to do just that, the way in which the entertainment is provided comes through in a more outstanding way: the jump cut. These jump cuts While I do not believe that there are any political messages tacked onto Madonna’s music videos, as Eisenstein utilized the jump cuts for, there is no narrative and the images are spliced together in a way that is meant to be shocking to the eye of the viewer. The purpose of Madonna’s editors’ use of jump cuts is to be a new and exciting concept for music videos in the future. Madonna’s videos that use montage are meant to be innovative and exciting for the audiences, not politically empowering. There is little to no connection between Soviet Montage and the Material Girl besides the use of the montage effect. While Battleship Potemkin is a politically driven movie, it is still a movie, and is still meant to be thrilling for an audience. This is the same for the Madonna videos. No matter what the message, they are meant to entertain.
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ReplyDeleteWhile Eisenstein used jump cuts to send a political message, Music videos during the eighties used jump cuts to entertain the audience. Eisenstein used jump cuts to ingrain what is happening to the audience. Using the Odessa scene in "Battleship Potemkin" as an example, jump cuts were used in the most shocking sections: the dying child and the baby carriage. These scenes were iconic because of the use of jump cuts. If there were no use of jump cuts during those scenes, the film may have not shown its message as clearly. In the film, the jump cuts were used to create tension, drama, and shock value to the audience while also sending a political message. Eisenstein strategically chose which scenes would utilize these jump cuts, and because of these choices, the film became an iconic film contemporarily and today. On the other hand, most music videos use jump cuts to make the video exciting and draw in the audience. They aren't meant to send a political message. Usually, jump cuts are used to create a frenetic and fast paced feeling at the beat of the music. While there are some music videos that do use jump cuts as it was originally, they are rare. Simply put, Comparing the music videos and political films such as "Battleship Potemkin" is futile. Eisenstein’s style used jump cuts to send a political message while music videos used jump cuts to create excitement.
ReplyDeleteJump cuts have a significant role in music videos –a role that deals with viewer engagement. These jump cuts have the power to engage the viewer, both mentally and physically, almost hypnotically. The quick change of singers, instruments, and settings keeps the viewer’s brain engaged and their eyes moving. Additionally, the viewer is not looking at the same image on the screen for more than one to two seconds in some cases. Being both mentally and physically captivated at the same time causes the viewer to stay in that state of engagement. Going along with the structure of music videos, I don’t necessarily think they have a narrative but I do think they have another purpose. It might not seem quite obvious, but there is a message in the song. Whether you are watching the music video or just listening to the music, that message will get across. In my opinion, the Material Girl by Madonna, as well as all of Madonna’s other music videos that contain jump cuts, do not contain a political message whatsoever. Specifically in the Material Girl, I think that the jump cuts had a completely different purpose than what Eisenstein used them for. Eisenstein used jump cuts as a tool that called for political action and empowerment, as Emma put it. Madonna’s Material Girl video used jump cuts because it was a fresh, new tool in the eighties that also provoked excitement. The jumps cuts purpose in both Eisenstein’s and Madonna’s videos are significantly different and I think that just shows how the purpose of jump cuts has changed over time.
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