Short films : dispersive effects of clip thinking

Abstract

The New Media have a vast influence on human mind and its cognitive functions. Clip thinking is a state of perception, knowledge and, therefore, consciousness that is formed by the perceptual patterns based on deconstruction of narratives. Practically, the main symptoms of clip thinking are the following: the lack of concentration while dealing with narratives, the incline to multitask work and random access to the information as well as an urge for immediate answers and the frustration if such an answer is impossible to get. Clip thinking is based on the database logic as an opposite to narrative. The present thesis discusses the clip thinking in terms of New Media theory of Lev Manovich and as an attribute of a post-human being. Finally, the research investigates how the clip thinking patterns are expressed in short films by means of cinematic montage. The classic works of Pudovkin and Eisenstein together with contemporary studies by Bordwell and other researchers are employed for discussing the montage techniques. The selection of five award-winning short movies is analyzed according to three criteria: (1) the continuity of film narrative, (2) the continuity and clarity of film space, (3) the frequency of cuts and the temporal ellipses and (4) the graphic and semantic relations between adjacent shots.