The Evolution of Film Language

Bazin’s, The Evolution of Film Language, was a very interesting read. I found the concept of the evolution of editing, in making meanings in films, to be of interest. Bazin talked about how the silent movie era brought about a particular style of editing called decoupage. Decoupage was an editing style that explicitly showed the symbolic relationships between objects. I have seen Battleship Potemkin, and this style of editing is heavily used in the film. Through this style the audience is explicitly shown what to associate with what and the meaning of the symbols. As sound was introduced, editing changed to include more realism as well as more audience participation. The audience was no longer just shown symbolic meanings; often they had to deduce the meanings themselves. These two distinct editing styles changed the way films were made for years to follow. The article mentions how some films go back to these previous styles and try to emulate their editing. As film language changes and evolves there is always this veneration of past practices. Today’s film editors will use different styles of editing in combination. Editing and the making of meaning in films is still clearly a fluid and evolving process.