We watched two examples of Russian cinema:
Serge Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark (2002). Despite the filmmakers’ shared geographic origin, Eisenstein’s film differs significantly from Sokurov’s. First and foremost, Battleship Potemkin was shot on film, whereas Sokurov’s Russian Ark was shot with digital video.
Please write an essay comparing Battleship Potemkin with Russian Ark.
In your answer, explain how the filmmaker explores the specific formal, material, and aesthetic qualities of the medium in which he worked (film for Eisenstein, digital video for Sokurov) and how these choices affect the viewer’s experience.
In your essay please explain the differences between film and digital video.
What is possible or necessary in one medium that isn’t in the other?
How does the medium that each director uses help him to make his point?
