Sergei Eisenstein in 60 Seconds
This Soviet director invented modern cinema: many of the techniques he used in his movies are still relevant today.
1. His first encounter with cinema occurred in 1906 in Paris. A then eight-year-old Seryozha watched the films by Georges Méliès.
2. Eisenstein first applied his famous "montage of attractions" – a method that keeps the audience in a state of constant emotional tension – in the theater. In his play ‘Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man’.
3. His movie ‘Battleship Potemkin’ is the world's first mockumentary.
The camera in it is "alive" – moveable platforms were used to achieve this. The movie was edited using Eisenstein's method: the footage was combined to achieve maximum dramatic effect and emotional intensity. Color also bursts onto the screen: the flag on the ship was hand-painted directly on the 8mm film.
4. ‘Battleship Potemkin’ has been included in various all-time movie rankings for many years and is considered one of the most significant movies in the history of world cinema.
5. The director's methods are still used today: rapid changes between close-ups and wide shots, a radically new editing technique instead of linear editing, that compels the viewer to remain glued to the action on screen.
