Study On The Evolution Of Montage

As one of the most important film theory concepts, montage is ambiguous and complex. Montage is always analyzed and criticized as important chapters in any film aesthetic works. From the lateral perspective, montage run through almost the entire history of art film. From the vertical perspective, this concept also run through theory and practice, and interacted between these two aspects. In t his paper, we choose several theorists and filmmakers who once played key roles during the development of montage, following the sequence of time--from the beginning of film arts till the current digital era, and try to clarify the development of montage. O f course, the theorists who expressed their opinions about montage are far more than we mentioned herein.In the first chapter, we try to expand our interpretation of multi-dimensional montage by comparing the different explanations of montage concept, the similarities and differences in three typical film theory dictionaries. And try to find the original shadow of montage which before rising to the level of aesthetics in the specific film text with the supplement of early film editing practice.The second chapter is about the montage film aesthetics of the Soviet school of montage. Vertov, Kuleshov, Eisenstein and Pudovkin must be mentioned. This chapter focuses on the formation of their theories and the differences between them. They were interested in the same topic but self-contained. The exploration of montage was also the most concentrated and intense during this period.The third chapter is about the two turns of montage. This chapter focuses on the montage ideas of André Bazin and Christian Metz. Bazin’s view is seemingly contradictory with the opinion of the Soviet montage school but mutually dialectical. And Metz introduced structural linguistics into film studies, and given the semantic significance to montage.The fourth chapter discusses the new academic understanding of montage after the digital technology being applied to film arts. The combination of digital technology and film arts not only makes film arts walk into the "post- film era ", but also montage become "post- montage ".But compared to its predecessor, "post- montage" actually produced what new changes, a nd whether these changes have the ability to subvert montage. These are the points this chapter needs to discuss.The conclusion is the systemic summary of the above discussion and the enlightenment to us.