Formalism

Sergei Eisenstein; I dare say alot of people will have heard of Sergei Eisenstein but not known a great deal about him, and I am no different, I knew he was Russian and a film-maker. That's about the extent. Having now seen his film, "Battleship Potemkin" I can see why he is so renowned. Early films always seem to be lacking when compared to today's smash hits, yet in Battleship Potemkin one can clearly see a step towards what we have today. The camera angles are more adventurous the cuts more decisive and every frame adds to the story. A shot of the trailing smoke from the ships stacks tells of movement instead of shooting a shot in front of the ship with it getting closer or from the front of the ship moving towards something.