Man With a Movie Camera

I was extremely impressed by the movie "Man With A Movie Camera." Dziga Vertov has a vision of the future and went where no other film maker had ever gone before. With his use of montage he amazed his audiences, with more visual stimulation than even seen before. His look into the day of common people in soviet cities with advanced technological production showed the progress of the world at that time. Even as a student living in the 21st century I was impressed and curious about these fast paced images that is "Man with A Movie Camera."
This "experimental film" is interesting in that it seems to be the first silent movie that really played with speeds and the camera. There were frozen frames,split screens,fast and slow motion. It played with size, like for example filming the camera man as just as large as an entire building.
I can only imagine what it was to be the first audience to see this movie. This was the first time people were seeing film in this light. This movie is full of clever manipulations to the eyes. Still showing the world as is, however with slight plays on the everyday.
His ideas of looking into the future are quite clear. He has many shots of technological scenes in which there is mass production of certain products. Especially in some of the scenes that are sped up, it seems the technological age is booming and is growing faster and faster. I can also see however his love for the everyday and for the people of his country. There are so many street scenes in which you feel like you are part of the enviornment. .
Vertov was unique in that in his film he allowed the audience to become part of his movie. The everyday scenes allowed for that. As well the every day people in his movie became the main characters, along with himself. He showed his love for film-making by allowing people to feel like at times they were looking right through the camera themselves, directing.You can see that he felt the camera was a more "perfected" eye. The camera could show all around an individual. The camera could capture the details of everyday life that the eye by itself might not notice, or at least might not appreciate.
I thought the shots of the athletes were very interesting. They all seemed very proud of what they were doing and the slow motion was beautifully done of the shots of the high jump. I also thought maybe Leni Riefenstahl might have been influenced by Vertov. Her films Olympia showed the Olympics and sports filmed in an extremely artisitc form. They were similar in that they showed the beauty and decadence of the human form and of the different sports people performed.