THE MULTI-IMAGE: The Origin and Possibilities of Visual Collage in Cinema
type: CreativeWork
description: The ‘multi-image’ is an overarching term covering various techniques of combination. These include split-screen, compositing, framing, superimposition and collage. This thesis explores the cinematic origins of the technique and examines a selection of its various possible uses. It covers the silent pioneers, the early avant-garde, 1920s narrative cinema (such as Jean Epstein, Abel Gance, Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov), modern silent films (focusing on Guy Maddin), David Lynch, Peter Greenaway and Jean-Luc Godard. Through this history, the thesis traces the recurring thematic purposes employed using the multi-image, including revelation, fragmentation, multiplicity and fluidity, and the foregrounding of artifice to facilitate viewer choice. The central claim is that the multi-image’s aesthetic complexity allows practitioner-theorists to match form and content allowing them to visually explore the complexity of the physical world. The thesis records the possibilities previously explored by other filmmakers. The practical work is a parallel project, attempting to push these boundaries through my own cinematic experimentation. It takes the theory explored in the written work and uses this to explore new subjects to reveal the myriad capabilities of the multi-image.
abstract: The ‘multi-image’ is an overarching term covering various techniques of combination. These include split-screen, compositing, framing, superimposition and collage. This thesis explores the cinematic origins of the technique and examines a selection of its various possible uses. It covers the silent pioneers, the early avant-garde, 1920s narrative cinema (such as Jean Epstein, Abel Gance, Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov), modern silent films (focusing on Guy Maddin), David Lynch, Peter Greenaway and Jean-Luc Godard. Through this history, the thesis traces the recurring thematic purposes employed using the multi-image, including revelation, fragmentation, multiplicity and fluidity, and the foregrounding of artifice to facilitate viewer choice. The central claim is that the multi-image’s aesthetic complexity allows practitioner-theorists to match form and content allowing them to visually explore the complexity of the physical world. The thesis records the possibilities previously explored by other filmmakers. The practical work is a parallel project, attempting to push these boundaries through my own cinematic experimentation. It takes the theory explored in the written work and uses this to explore new subjects to reveal the myriad capabilities of the multi-image.
author: Gerrard, Christopher
language: eng
keywords: Film, Film Studies, film editing, practical film, video art, jean-luc godard, peter greenaway, david lynch, guy maddin, abel gance, sergei eisenstein, dziga vertov, jean epstein, man ray, germaine dulac, fernand leger, georges melies, silent cinema, silent film, digital film, film aesthetics
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:08:52Z
provider: University of Dundee
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Dundee