![]() If we had seen Mike studying or Sully at the frat house in isolation, we may have taken these at face value. This sets up the idea that Sully is popular and Mike is not, the main conflict of the film. While Mike has to study hard, Sully is seen playing ping-pong and hanging out at the frat house. In Pixar’s Monsters University, a montage successfully highlights the differing experiences between Sully and Mike Wazowski at college. The relationships and the job are no longer new, but we as viewers, like Andy, have remained stagnant.Ĭonsider how dull this scene would have been with a simple ‘Two Weeks Later’ title card. We appreciate the monotony of Andy’s job and her relationship with Miranda. Viewers who watch carefully will notice the bag and coat are different in every frame.ĭespite time moving on, nothing changes. This successfully moves us on several weeks into Andy’s work-life at Runway. In The Devil Wears Prada, we see Miranda throw her coat and bag to Andy to hang up 14 times in quick succession. We don’t need to see every detail of Kevin’s traps or how they work because we are about to see the burglars fall into all of them.īut, we need to get a brief overview of Kevin preparing the house in order for the later comedic scenes with the burglars to make sense. This montage shows us the key moments of Kevin preparing the house for the arrival of the burglars. This is a great example of a montage that successfully speeds up an event. To compare and contrast two characters.Ĭonsider the ‘ Setting the Traps’ montage in Home Alone, set to John Williams’ Star of Bethlehem.To help us speed through a narrative event quickly.To establish a relationship between two characters, as we saw in Up.Some good examples of how a montage can be used effectively: They must drive the story along in some way. Screenplay montages must have a narrative purpose. Rather than thinking in terms of how long a montage should last, it’s better to consider the purpose of each shot in the montage.ĭo the frames in the montage tell part of the story more effectively and efficiently than a continuous edit? If not, then they should be cut. Any longer than this and you may find your viewers struggling to pay attention or unnecessarily thrown out of the story. Mainstream cinema and television montages generally last around a few minutes. Longer montages pay homage to this style. Montages were used to suggest meaning in several shots rather than simply telling the audience what to think through the narrative arc of the story. At the time the form was considered extremely experimental. The screenplay montage itself was popularized in the early 1920s Soviet film industry, most notably by Sergi Eisenstein. Longer montage scenes are more suited to experimental art-house films that play around with conventions. The length of the montage depends on the kind of film or TV show you are hoping to make. The short answer is there is no set length. How Long Should A Screenplay Montage Last? ![]() ![]() It’s for this reason that montages should be used sparingly. A montage, however, is naturally more jarring and can remind us that we are participating in a filmic experience. With continuity editing, we can forget that we are watching a film or a TV show because we are so immersed in the story. Continuity editing is all about a seamless transition from one scene to the next. The opposite of a montage is continuity editing. Imagine how boring Carl’s backstory would have been if his relationship with Ellie had been conveyed to us via a conversation he’d had with a friend or in short snippets through the film? Screenplay montages, if used correctly, can be a great way of avoiding exposition dump. "If you just started the film with flying his house to South America, you’d be left scratching your head and asking, 'Why is he doing this? Why doesn’t he take a train or something?' So we really needed to land him quickly and make clear his drive for the rest of the film," explained Docter. It also conveys exposition in a unique and interesting way. Director Pete Docter told the L.A Times that the montage was a way of creating sympathy for Carl.
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