Mass scenes as a way of manipulating the consciousness of the viewer

The essay explores the significance of mass scenes in the history of cinema. It analyzes the directorial style of Sergei Eisenstein and his concept that the human mass becomes observable only with the invention of cinema. The image of the mass is created by the editing. Long shots transform the real human mass into an infinitely growing mass, while close-ups destroy its image. Film editing involves the audience in the creation of the mass: each foreshortening offers a new vision of the people united in the mass. Mass scenes of the film allow the spectator to become infected with the ideas of the mass and to experience the increase in emotions inherent in a crowd. The film appeals to the spectator whose properties are predetermined. The spectator agrees to the viewing conditions dictated by the film and dissolves in the spectacle. The full involvement of the spectator in what he sees on the film screen is the main feature of cinema. Therefore, the manipulation of the spectator’s consciousness during the film screening is inevitable. Due to the psychological characteristics of their perception, mass scenes are one of the most powerful ways to control the spectator's emotional and intellectual reactions.