Watch: 5 Essential Types of Montage to Use in Your Film Sometimes, you just gotta have a montage. Sergei Eisenstein, the Russian film theorist and director famous as a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, loved the device so much that he often argued it was the "essence of cinema." Eisenstein was one of the first to put into practice the theory that editing could be used for more than just ending a shot and starting a new one. Eisenstein felt the "collision" of shots could be used to manipulate the emotions of the audience and create metaphor. According to Eisenstein, montage is defined as “combining shots that are depictive—single in meaning, neutral in content—into intellectual contexts and series.” 1. The practice of cutting according to exact measurement, irregardless of the content of the shot. 2. The practice of cutting according to the content of the shots, or continuity editing. 3. The practice of cutting according to the emotional tone of the piece. 4. 5.
5 Captivating forms of movie montage - EditorControl.com Montages are the point in the movie usually accompanied by music and having no dialogue where a wide swath of information is presented to the viewing audience using drastic film cuts. When the ballerina trains for her big day or the warriors slaughter each other in a vast battle you are probably watching a montage. Learning the basic types of montage will make your editing much more powerful and impactful. The Metric Montage Like the ticks of a metronome each cut in this montage is made at the same rate. The Rhythmic Montage In this technique the rate of the metronome is changed over time. The Tonal Montage Tonal montages rely less on the timing of the cut and more on the representation of each shot. The Overtonal Montage Overtonal montages smash together metric, rhythmic, and tonal montages in a way that is more avant garde and complicated. The Intellectual Montage Intellectual montages move from the scene to analogies of what that scene represents. Personal favorite of all time: