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Eisenstein's Collision Montage

By Gopalan Mullik

Collision Montage, based on Marxist dialectics, is Sergei Eisensteins theory of

montage. For Eisenstein, one shot should collide with another, like a dialectical thesis
and antithesis, resulting in a synthesis in the viewers mind. This synthesis itself then
becomes part of a new thesis generating further collisions in an ongoing series of such
shots:

Synthesis

Synthesis Thesis Antithesis

Thesis Antithesis

According to Eisenstein, this theory is markedly different from Linkage Montage of

Kuleshov and Pudovkin. He says that, in linkage montage, discontinuous shots are
linked up on the basis of a continuity of action, even though that continuity can only
occur in a new, synthetic, space. This means that the two shots do have some
commonality between their inherent ideas. Eisenstein calls it the epic principle of
montage. Montage, according to Eisenstein, however, has a deeper level. It deals with
representations of space, time, and actions which are not only discontinuous but also
contrasting, or, even conflicting, in real life. When such contraries are presented,
audience minds must reconcile them to make meaning out of them. Lets consider the
following example of conflicting social spaces:

Ex: Rich person having a sumptuous meal

cut to
Poor person searching a dustbin for food

Audiences cannot possibly link them up here on the basis of an underlying continuity
of action, even by creating a new synthetic space, as they have done in the cases of
linkage montage; rather they need a higher tool to reconcile these social contraries. In
fact, these conflicting social perspectives can only be synthesized based on certain
social ideas like justice-injustice, equality-inequality, etc. Eisenstein called this kind
of montage the collision montage.

The respective differences between those of Hollywood continuity cinema,

Pudovkins linkage montage, and Eisensteins collision montage may be illustrated
through the following example. In Hollywood continuity cinema, all the elements of
cinema are eventually united to reinforce an idea. For example, the charisma of a
heroine would be built up by combining lighting, camerawork, costumes, etc, all of
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which would go to reinforce one single idea: the iconic nature of the Hollywood star.
In Soviet linkage cinema, however, her charisma would be built up by juxtaposing
discontinuous shots, like the halo of a goddess, etc, with those of the star, to suggest,
through their linkage, the same meaning i.e. the charisma of the star. In contrast,
Eisensteins collision montage would use lighting, etc, in opposition to what the
image of the heroine would actually demand. This non-charismatic i.e. conflicting
use of lighting, etc, would make people realize the constructive nature of such
images. This would make them discerning viewers: in the course of viewing cinema,
they would become conscious of the whole process of filmmaking itself.

In fact, Eisensteins theory is based on separation of elements of cinema and then

using them in opposition to each other. Eisenstein (Collected Works, V.2, p.341-3)
approvingly quotes the art critic, Ren Guiller as follows:
In the past, conventional aesthetics rested on a merging of structural elements. In
music, on a line of unbroken melody which pervaded the chords of harmony; in
literature, on joining together of the elements of a sentence with conjunctions and
linking phases; in painting, on a seamless structural design which ordered the parts
into a whole.
Modern aesthetics is based instead on the separation of elements which contrast
with each other; the repetition of the same element is only a reinforcement, to lend
greater intensity to the contrast...[In the modern aesthetics], everything is brought
into the foreground. This is an important principle. It applies equally to pictures, to
stage sets, to films, to poetry: a total rejection of conventional perspective, with its
single fixed viewpoint and its converging lines
Eisenstein calls this dynamization of the viewers mind due to collision montage the
dramatic principle of montage (the terms epic and dramatic here relating to film
forms rather than their narrative contents), an idea which he develops in his article
The Dramaturgy of Film Form in 1929.

First Taxonomy of Collision Montage

Eisenstein believes in a physiologically-based model of the human being where there
is no artificial separation between mind and body. According to him, physical,
emotional, and intellectual levels are nothing but progressively higher levels of
nervous activity of the body where a quantum difference in the received stimuli would
ultimately generate a qualitative difference in their responses. For instance, a physical
response would change over into an emotional one when the conflicting stimuli reach
a critical mass. Similarly an emotional response would change over into thought i.e.
an idea when the received stimuli reach still higher critical levels. The whole process
would thus appear to be like this: at certain points of quantitative accumulation, where
certain critical points of saturation are reached, qualitative 'leaps' occur in the minds
of the audiences. These leaps take the form of a jump from the purely physical to the
emotional to the intellectual levels of the viewer. Eisenstein discusses how such
processes of quantitative accumulation and the subsequent qualitative leaps occur at
certain points in cinema:
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1. Perceptual dynamization:
The conflicts of stimuli at the purely physical level of perception may be made to
occur in any or all of the following fields:

a. Graphic conflict
b. Conflict between planes
c. Conflict between volumes
d. Spatial conflict
e. Conflict in lighting
f. Conflict of tempo (e.g. those occurring in Griffith's parallel montage)

Eisenstein holds that the very process of trying to resolve these conflicts at the audio-
visual level not only produces a dynamization of perception of the viewer but also
ultimately leads to the production of a psychological field in him.
For instance, lets consider that motion is occurring from a to b in Frame X and
from a to c in Frame Y.

b b

a a = a

c c

X Y Z

When square X is superimposed on square Y, mind psychologically resolves the

conflict between the lines a-b and a-c through the imaginary line b-c in square Z.
Thus, through a purely physical perception of the two lines, a psychological (or
emotional) response equivalent to b-c is produced in the viewer (Eisenstein Writings,
V.I, p.174-6).

2. Emotional dynamization:
Eisenstein holds that such preliminary psychological (or emotional) fields might be
intensified to generate emotional responses by heightening the tension between the
frames. Such a montage occurs in the slaughter of bull sequence in his film Strike
where the brutal crushing of workers by stampeding police horses is inter-cut with the
slaughter of a bull (Eisenstein Writings, V.I, p.174). Another example occurs in the
stock exchange sequence of Pudovkin's The End of St. Petersburg where shots of an
increasingly feverish activity in the Stock Exchange is inter-cut with the muddy boots
of soldiers fighting in trenches as the battle worsens.
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3. Intellectual dynamization:
Eisenstein argues that, at still higher levels of perceptual and emotional conflict, ideas
are produced. One of the ways of achieving this is by discrediting a conventional idea
by piling up evidence after evidence against it in successive shots (Eisenstein
Writings, V.I, p.179).
Ex: a) In the Name of God and Fatherland sequence in Eisenstein's October:
In the sequence of Gods, the conventional idea of 'God' as an omniscient being
with a halo around Him is progressively devalued through a series of collisions
occurring through the pictorial representations of Gods from different cultures.
b) In the sequence of the Fatherland, ones conventional idea about Fatherland
collide with the pictorial representation of a General who only understands
medallions, riches, and power by it.

Eisensteins Second Taxonomy of Collision Montage

In Eisenstein's second taxonomy of Collision Montage, also developed in his article
The Fourth Dimention in Cinema in 1929, he reclassifies collision montage into five
categories: Metric, Rhythmic, Tonal, Overtonal and Intellectual. In this
reclassification, Eisenstein explains the dominant yardstick that underlies each of
these montages: metric for the absolute length of the shots determined as per a given
formula, rhythmic for movement, tonal for emotion, overtonal for dominant and
subdominant tones taken as a whole, and intellectual for thought. He further says how
each of them can then be converted into a collision montage.

1. Metric Montage:
In metric montage, the basic criterion is the absolute length of the shots irrespective
of their content.
What the length of the shots would be is determined by a formula decided in advance
by the director or the editor of the film which has no connection with the content of
the shots whatsoever. In this kind of montage, the content of each shot is totally
subordinated to the arbitrarily decided length of the shots by the director/editor.
Ex: a) The Clock Sequence in Fred Zinemann's High Noon:
In the above sequence, the length of the shots are uniform, edited at 4 beats
each.
b) Griffiths Parallel Montage
In this metric montage, the tempo of the shots are artificially intensified by
progressively shortening their lengths uniformly as the shots race towards a
climax. Eisenstein criticizes these last minute rescue sequences of Griffith as
an arbitrary quickening of the tempo which has no scientific basis whatsoever.
However, while such an arithmetical schema may work in some cases, particularly
when scenes or sequences are set to music, Eisenstein feels that their indiscriminate
application based on complicated formulae may destroy the impact of the montage as
a whole.
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Metric montage may be converted into a more meaningful collision montage when the
length of the shots are made to contradict the metric formula. Eisenstein gives the
following example:

Ex: Odessa steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin:

There the drum-beat of the soldiers feet descending the steps destroys all
metrical conventions. It occurs outside the intervals prescribed by the metre and
each time it appears in a different shot resolution. (Eisenstein, Selected Works,
V 1, 1988, p. 188)

2. Rhythmic Montage
In rhythmic montage, the nature of the movement determines the duration of the shots
(Eisenstein Writings, V.I., p.187).
One important point to note here is that this movement may be an actual physical
movement from one place to another or an implied movement of static forms that are
pregnant with action. In conventional representations, only the physical movements
determine the editing pattern of the shots e.g. faster movements eliciting faster cuts
and vice versa. Eisenstein, however, challenges this conventional form of
understanding movements by including in it implied movements of static figures as
well.

Ex: In the Odessa Steps Sequence in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin:

In the scene where the woman with the pince-nez is attacked by the Cossack,
Eisenstein presents the carriage for 13 frames, the soldier for 30 frames, the
woman for 47 frames and the turret of the guns for 65 frames. In this classic case
of rhythmic cutting, he considers implied movement along with movement as such
to determine the cutting rate. Thus he alternates between action (carriage and
Cossack) and stasis (woman) and then to action again (turrets). In addition, he
alternates between colliding camera angles and shot sizes by moving from
medium shots to close-ups and back to medium shots.

Rhythmic montage can be intensified by converting it into a collision montage. This

can be done by changing a particular rhythm into its opposite rhythm, thereby creating
a collision in the audiences mind. This happens when:
Movement A changes over into movement B where A is in conflict with B.

Ex: In the Odessa Steps sequence in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin:

In its opening shots, intensification of rhythmic montage is achieved by
continuously switching from one form of movement to another, like keeping the
umbrella on the screen for 8 beats, soldier's measured tread for 6 beats, the chaotic
movement of the people for 8 beats and so on. (Eisenstein, 1988, Writings, V.I, p.
188)
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3. Tonal Montage:
Here shots are assembled in accordance with the power of the shots to produce
particular emotional effects.
This assemblage of shots occurs in terms of the dominant emotional tone occurring
within the shots. For Eisenstein, such emotional dominants are constructed with the
help of lighting and graphic arrangement within the shots. In other words, according
to Eisenstein, some of the basic ingredients of evoking emotion (apart from the
narrative itself) are light tonality and graphic tonality:
If we give a conventional emotional designation of more gloomy to a shot that
is to be predominantly resolved by lighting, this can be successfully replaced by a
mathematical coefficient for a simple degree of illumination (a case of light
tonality).
In another instance, where we designate the shot as a sharp sound, it is
extremely easy to apply this designation to the overwhelming number of acute
angled elements within the shots (a case of graphic tonality). (Eisenstein, 1988,
Writings, V.I, p. 189)
Tonal montage, then, works through variations of light and sharpness of forms in the
shots (Tredell, 50).

Eisensteins rate of cutting varies with the emotional tonality of a scene. Thus the
relentless marching of the soldiers boots is kept on the screen for an extended period
to bring home the shock and fear that it evokes. Similarly, the quick jabbing thrust of
the sword by the soldier at the woman with the pince-nez calls for quick cuts while
the face of the woman, almost frozen in fear and pain, is given an extended treatment
to register the mindless brutality of the scene.

Ex: The Mother with the Wounded Son sequence in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin:
As the mother mounts the stairs to confront the soldiers, four separate actions are
interwoven in it: the action of the mother, the advance of the soldiers, the hesitant
following of the mother by the group led by the woman with the pince-nez, and
the flight of the crowd. What is important is how much time Eisenstein allots to
each in his editing pattern. Indeed of the approximately 1454 frames in the whole
sequence, Eisenstein allots 973 frames to the mother. The extraordinary duration
of the shots involving the mother is apparently not only meant to increase the
suspense as the mother keeps mounting the steps, but also to bring out the
dominant tone of her heroic resolution in the matter.

One of the processes of intensifying a tonal montage is to convert it into a collision

montage. This is achieved when:
Emotion A is transformed into emotion B where A is in conflict with B

Ex: a) The Fog Sequence in Battleship Potemkin:

The tone of emotional gloom of Vakulinchuks body lying on the shore is first
constructed by the images of scarcely perceptible ripple on the water, the slight
bobbing of vessels at anchor, the slowly swirling mist, the sea
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gulls landing slowly on the water (Eisenstein,1988, Writings, V.I, p. 189). He

then converts this tonal montage into collision montage by making the emotion
of gloom change over into the opposite emotion of anger by achieving
vigorous movements and much higher illumination within the shots.
b) The Delayed Harvest Sequence in Eisenstein's Old and New:
The pre-storm oppressiveness of the gathering sky is intensified in the tonality
of the sky going from light grey to pitch black. The conflict hidden in the
bossom of this static sky is then brought out into the open through the growing
force of the wind that eventually condenses air streams into watery torrents of
rain. As static rhythm thus changes over into its opposite of a dynamic rhythm,
it evokes a simultaneous emotional change from apathy to its opposite, hope,
amongst the harvesters.

4. Overtonal Montage:
In overtonal montage, the dominant emotion occurs alongside secondary emotions,
the two together determining the overall effect of a scene on the audience.
In other words, this montage is not constructed on the basis of a single emotion which
is dominant in a scene, but takes the sum total of all the emotions occurring within the
scene. Again just as any dimension or element of the film can express the dominant
emotional tone, so also any dimension or aspect of the film can carry the subdominant
or the overtones of the scene or the sequence. Eisenstein likens it to music, where
alongside the basic dominant tone, a whole series of secondary resonances, called the
overtones and the undertones, occur. Based on this musical analogy, Eisenstein
considers overtonal montage to be much more 'democratic' than the tonal montage:
The aristocracy of unambiguous dominants was replaced by the method of
democratic equal rights for all the stimulants, viewed together as a complex.
The point is that the dominant is far from being the only stimulant in the shot,
even if it is the most powerful. For example, the sex appeal of the American
heroine is accompanied by various stimulants: texture like the material of her
dress, light like the character of lightingetc.
In a word, a whole complex of secondary stimulants always accompanies the
central stimulant (Eisenstein, 1988, Writings, V.I, p. 182)

Overtonal montage can be intensified by converting it into a collision montage. This

happens when:
Dominant emotion is in conflict with the secondary emotions
For example, the sex appeal of the Hollywood heroine can be disturbed if the
secondary stimulants, like lighting, costumes, etc, are arranged in a manner that
conflict with its dominant tone, thereby, deglamourizing her.

Ex: a) The transportation of Vakulinchuk's Body in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin:

The sequence represents a conflict between the static, representing death, and
the dynamic, representing life. Here the dominant stimuli is that of the ram-rod
straight soldiers standing in silence and the still body of Vakulinchuk lying on
a raised platform. It signifies lifelessness and death. The secondary stimuli
consist of the dynamic in the form of the bellowing black and white steam, the
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furlows formed in water, the gently bobbing lights on the shore, etc. These
signify life. This conflict means respect to the departed soul as well as the
belief that life must go on.
b) The Mother with the Wounded Son sequence in Eisensteins Battleship
Potemkin:
As the mother moves up the stairs with the child in her arm, her courage
becomes the dominant emotion while the threatening shadows of the soldiers
looming over her represents a subdominant emotion of fear in the scene.

5. Intellectual Montage:
In intellectual montage, a deliberate accumulation of emotional affects triggers ideas
at certain critical levels of such formations.

Ex: The Odessa massacre in Battleship Potemkin:

Eisenstein expected that the meaningless brutality of the Cossacks on the steps of
Odessa harbour would generate an intense emotional conflict among the audiences
between their loyalty for the Czar and the reality they were witnessing in front of
them. From this would arise an idea: exploitative nature of the Czar.

Intellectual montage can be intensified through collision montage when a

conventional idea is bombarded with a series of contrary ideas till a new idea, which
supersedes both the earlier ideas, is born at a higher level of ones understanding.
Called the principle of dialectics, where Thesis vs. Antithesis = Synthesis, it may
also be represented in the following form:
Idea A, in conflict with idea B, produces, through their synthesis, a new idea C

In Eisensteins cinema, it takes the form of a continuous process where one

conventional idea is relentlessly bombarded with its opposite i.e. conflicting ideas till
a saturation point is reached and a new idea is born. This process may be represented
thus:
Idea A x Idea B x Idea C = Idea Z
(thesis) (antithesis) (antithesis) saturation point (synthesis)

Ex: a) In the drama on the quarter deck in Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin:

As the 'errant' sailors are to be shot, the following images flash through
Vakulinchuks mind which synthesize a new idea in him:
Priest tapping his crucifix life belt the eagle insignia the bugle
Since the priest tapping the crucifix is earlier associated with an officer
stroking his sword representing the Czarist authority, Vakulinchuk realizes that
the only way left for the sailors is to unite and resist. This is represented by the
life belt. This image is further contradicted by the Eagle Insignia of the Czar in
Vakulinchuks mind. The final image of the bugle indicates Vakulinchuks
resolve to fight the oppression. These conflicting images form an
intellectual montage as follows:
Priests Crucifix x Life Belt x Eagle Insignia x Bugle
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b) In the Name of God sequence in Eisenstein's October:

In the sequence of Gods, the conventional idea of an omniscient 'God' with a
Halo around Him, is devalued in a series of conflicts representing the idea of
Gods from other cultures and other countries.
c) In the sequence of the Fatherland sequence in Eisensteins October:
The conflict here is between our conventional idea of Fatherland and the
pictorial representation of a General who only understands by it medallions,
riches, and power.

In his hierarchical model of human kind, thoughts occupy the highest position for
Eisenstein. An intellectual cinema will synthesise instincts, senses, emotions, and
thoughts to bridge the mind-body duality that occurs in Western philosophy since
Descartes. From perception to emotion to thought is the trajectory Eisenstein sought
to traverse in his kind of cinema. He says:
'From image to emotion, from emotion to thesiscinema is the only concrete art
thatcan release the operations of the thought processThis will also be the
historic artistic achievement of our time because we are suffering from a terrible
dualism between thought and feeling (emotion). (Tredell, p. 52-3)

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References:
1. Eisenstein, S. M. (1929). The dramaturgy of film form. Taylor, R. (Ed.). 1988.
Eisenstein writings 1922 1934, Vol. 1. London: BFI Publishing and Indiana
University Press. Pp. 161-180.
2. Eisenstein, S. M. (1929). The fourth dimension in cinema. Taylor, R. (Ed.).
Eisenstein writings 1922-1934. Vol. 1. London: BFI Publishing. Pp.181-194.
3. Tredell, N. (Ed.). (2002). Cinemas of the mind. Cambridge: Icon
Books. Pp.48-53.