October opens with seven different shots of a statue of a czar. Each shot lasts about three seconds. After the introduction of this statue, several shots of a massive mob running towards the giant statue are shown in a sequence in which each shot length decreases at an accelerating rate. As Eisenstein states, "Tension is obtained by the effect of mechanical acceleration by shortening the pieces [of a sequence.]" Clearly, the building of tension created through metric montage is meant to immediately spawn a certain conflict in the viewer's mind when thinking about the proletariat masses. Just a few minutes into the movie, Eisenstein has used metric montage to allow the viewer to perceive a sense of doom regarding the czar and acknowledge the upheaval brewing in the Bolshevik masses.
             Approximately 14 minutes into October, Eisenstein uses metric montage, once again, in a very clear and distinctive way to add tension to his film. As a protesting assembly of Bolsheviks gathers, a soldier fires upon the Bolsheviks. Several extreme long shots of the crowd are shown and then, almost in a thaumatropic manner, two shots-- one of a machine gun, and one of the face of the gunner-- are shown. Each shot is only two frames in length but the repeating series of these two shots allows the image of the gun and the soldier to become one. This extremely quick metric montage adds a "pulsing" to the film and attempts not only to create tension, but to associate the tension with the soldier, representing the Czarist government. Eisenstein states in his article that this sort of pulsing creates a distinct emotional tension in a film. The emotional tension in October further builds as Eisenstein incorporates his other forms of montage.
             Rhythmic montage, Eisenstein's second form of editing montage, focuses not on the time between shot changes but key movements within the frame. The rhythmic elements may involve objects in motion or "movement of the specta...