Development principles of screen reality in Soviet documentary cinematography of the 1930’s

DOI:

Review date:

Publish date:

Abstract: The object of this research is the fundamental principles of capturing and analysis of new reality of the 1930’s in creative works of the most prominent national documentarians of that time. The article traces the similarities and differences in the relevant film journalism and newsreel of 1930’s from the perspective of compositional structure and visualization of a character; defines the concept of “documentary film image”; makes suggestions of the audience interpretation of reality through the prism of author’s mark. Based on the material of the films of D. Vertov and E. Shub, the author traces the evolution of original styles of the two brightest documentary artists, and determines the main trends of the development of documentaries that would be relevant until the “Thaw” period. The author conducts a gradual analysis of the plasticity and imagery nature of documentary material, new editinf and dynamic expressive means and methods of their implementation in such films as “The Symphony of Donbass”, “Three Songs About Lenin”, “Komsomol: Patron of Electrification”. The relevance of problematic is substantiated by transformation of the traditional approach towards the art analysis of the audio-visual content. The article examines the concept of “chronotope”. The new capabilities of sound art allow indicating the new expressive means based not on the language of classical arts, but the language of Soviet avant-garde of the 1920’s, adjusted to the need of creativity of the 1930’s. The novelt of culturological interpretation of the prospects of growth and establishment of the Soviet documentary art of that time is tested by the author on the film analysis of the most notable auteur films of that era (D. Vertov and E. Shub), which demonstrate the new forms of visual performance adding a publicist element.