Montages \u2014 which have played an essential role in moving film plots forward for a very long time \u2014 are famous for being especially complex, containing a multitude of moving parts that need to work in concert to create a whole that leaves an impression.<\/p>\n
To ensure that the script writer's vision for the montage can accurately be translated to the screen, it is crucial to describe the planned montage in excruciating detail, while somehow also managing to remain succinct. How can this be done?<\/p>\n
A montage can be defined as a succession of images, which may move or be still (shots vs scenes) and are used to create a coherent whole that conveys information as well as a mood. Montages serve as a powerful tool in a wide variety of settings, including in movie trailers, commercials, and YouTube videos. In a script, montages are used across genres, where they can:<\/p>\n
Most montages in TV and film scripts don't have voice overs \u2014 their power lies entirely in their visual representation, and while short pieces of dialogue may be included in a montage, script writers do not focus on dialogue, but rather on explaining what the montage should look like and how it needs to progress.<\/p>\n
Writing a montage in a script is a unique challenge, and before any aspiring script writer can craft a beautiful sequence that serves to advance the plot of the script, it is helpful to learn what types of montages are most commonly used. Aspiring script writers or students do not have to confine themselves to established types of montages, but can certainly draw inspiration from them as they decide how to put this technique to use in their script.<\/p>\n
Training is hard work<\/em> \u2014 nobody magically becomes ripped, and reaches the peak of their profession, overnight. It's crucial to show the grueling reality of training, which is bound to involve its fair share of horrific failure as well as an ungodly amount of time, to make the audience understand just how hard the character had to work to get to where he is now. This is where montage can shine, because watching long training sessions is boring. Progression can be shown by showing the physical changes the character goes through, offering a glimpse of changing seasons, and changing the setting.<\/p>\n These montages appear on the big screen as well as on television, and besides the famous Rocky<\/em> montage, you can turn to The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, Armageddon<\/em>, and Cool Runnings<\/em> for inspiration.<\/p>\n Flashback montages can serve to depict the triggers a character with post-traumatic stress disorder is confronted with, but they can also have an altogether more light-hearted aim \u2014 to familiarize the audience with the history between characters, or to clarify a plot point.<\/p>\n Fight Club<\/em> uses flashback montages to great effect, as the audience comes to the (once) shocking realization that the narrator and Tyler Durden are one and the same. The flashback montages in the TV show Mr. Robot<\/em> serve a very similar purpose, and deal with topics of mental health as well.<\/p>\n Sometimes, these types of montages let the audience know that a new character is now in on a big secret \u2014 in Spectacular Spider-Man<\/em>, for instance, Venom introduces Eddie Brock to the fact that Peter Parker is Spider-Man by means of a flashback montage.<\/p>\n These montages offer the audience an overview of the actions different characters take at the same time, but in different locations \u2014 maybe two people about to go on a date are getting ready, maybe two opponents are training for a fight, or maybe executioner and prisoner are both preparing for a pivotal moment. These montages may also show a single character engaging in similar actions in wildly contrasting situations. In the famously cinematic TV series The Handmaid's Tale<\/em>, for example, June's pregnancy with Hannah is contrasted with her new pregnancy in a dystopian future.<\/p>\n Soviet film maker Eistenstein's Strike<\/em> contrasts the cutting down of striking workers with the slaughter of a bull \u2014 creating a powerful metaphor that sends not only a very particular political message, but also allowed him to experiment with film techniques that were, at the time, completely novel. Metaphoric montages are typically reserved for especially intellectual cult films or experimental artistic films.<\/p>\n These montages are one of the most used \u2014 and even \"exploited\" \u2014 across the TV and film industry. In Pixar's Up<\/em>, a montage depicting the life Carl and his wife enjoyed quickly allows viewers to understand the depth of the bond between them. In the British dystopian TV mini series Years and Years<\/em>, passage of time montages, usually set on birthdays, leave viewers with a rising sense of impending doom.<\/p>\n The technique used to film a montage can broadly be divided into two separate categories \u2014 montages may contain a sequences of shots, which are still, or a series of scenes. In the latter case, the montage typically unfolds in multiple different locations. Once the choices between these two options has been made, script writers can further consider that montages may be:<\/p>\n The steps script writers need to take to write an effective montage in a script all have a singular focus \u2014 to share the creative and emotional vision so clearly that translating the montage to the screen will be smooth sailing. This will require the script writer to first develop a well-defined framework for the montage. Once that is done, it is up to the script writer how much they wish to include; fewer details leave more creative freedom to the director or producer.<\/p>\n Script writers will come to the realization that a montage would be the best way to move the story forward quite organically \u2014 and because of that, it will also usually be immediately apparent what kind of information the montage needs to convey.<\/p>\n Let's say that you're writing a script with an aspiring script writer at its heart (very meta, no?). The script writer has suffered through rejection after rejection, and has had to work as a customer support worker to make ends meet. Despite their failures, they've never given up \u2014 and their hard work will finally pay off.<\/p>\n Unless your script focuses on the failures, rather than the eventual success, a montage could be the perfect way to show how your protagonist finally arrived. Your basic components include the passage of time, time spent working on script after script, hope that \"this one will be a success\", rejections, scary utility bills, and... rinse and repeat<\/em>.<\/p>\n Write all the initial ideas you come up with down, perhaps within an app, or maybe on a whiteboard (because some people prefer more tactile action during their creative process.)<\/p>\n Next, think about the ways in which you could illustrate all the points you are trying to make. In this example, you could visually demonstrate the passage of time by means of seasonal changes, different haircuts, changing outfits, weight changes, and perhaps visible signs of fatigue.<\/p>\n You could start thinking about the mood you want to set, too. In this case, the character has grit \u2014 she never gives up, even though she often comes close, because she believes in herself. She does get desperate, however, and you'll want to show that.<\/p>\n Congratulations! Once you make it through your initial brainstorming process, you'll know what kind of montage you want to create, and you know what it will accomplish:<\/p>\n This basic information is enough to keep you moving forward \u2014 onto the next stage!<\/p>\n To discover how to format your montage, reading existing montages in scripts is indispensable. This will help aspiring script writers learn what structures work, as well as gaining further insights into the types of details that are helpful to include.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, montages in movie or TV scripts are clearly denoted. The writer would make the transition from the previous scene to the montage by creating an empty line, writing the word MONTAGE (where necessary, followed by slightly more information), and then proceeding to craft the script for the montage. Capital letters can be used to immediately draw attention to an important change.<\/p>\n To help you out, here's an example.<\/p>\n Andrea and Max enter the wedding dress store. <\/em><\/p>\n MONTAGE OF ANDREA TRYING ON WEDDING DRESSES<\/em><\/p>\n SONG: Soldier by Fleurie plays over montage.<\/em><\/p>\n END MONTAGE<\/em><\/p>\n Do you have specific ideas to include? Do so! The time can be shown on the maid of honor's smartphone as she texts her other friends about \"bridezilla\", the shop assistant grows frustrated, too, and outside, the sun is setting! While it is possible to leave these creative details to the director, and some script writers do exactly that, it is crucial to write every detail you absolutely want to include in the script for the montage.<\/p>\n Montages that include more than one location call on the script writer to be clear about this. They can do so by leaving a line empty, writing the name of the location, and describing what need to happen in the next part of the montage.<\/p>\n In the famous Rocky<\/em> training montage, for example, the locations \u2014 and the time within the montage \u2014 are denoted as follows:<\/p>\n Under each heading, the scene or shot would briefly be described. There is no need to include more detail than what you see here; the director, too, needs some creative freedom to work with!<\/p>\n Does your vision for your montage include dialogue? If so, you will, as the script writer, need to write these lines out.<\/p>\n Wherever a script writer has strong feelings about particular details that should be included in a montage to move the plot along or connect with the audience, these should explicitly be written down. Do you want a character to yell, yawn, or faint? Say so in your script. Should a character's dog feature in the montage? Write that down. Are clothes and physical details important? Include those. Should your characters have a pile of unwashed dishes in the sink? Say that, too. If it's essential to the script, and you are 100 percent sure that you need<\/em> it to appear on the screen, include detail in the script for the montage.<\/p>\n If you have followed along with all these steps to write an effective montage for a script, you are likely surprised at the simplicity of the wording used in most montage scripts. Somehow, excellent script writers manage to convey everything they need to in just a few words. They determine the core mood and progression of the montage, but leave the finer details up to the director or producer \u2014 who, indeed, runs with the script to create a montage that is often even better than the writer could ever have imagined.<\/p>\n After you have drafted your montage script, read back to analyze whether:<\/p>\n Does your script tick all these boxes? Congratulations! You are now officially done! Leave the rest of the work to the director.<\/p>\n Novice script writers, especially those who have previous experience in writing novels, short stories, or other forms of writing, need to take a few key tips in mind as they attempt to write an effective script for a montage. Your script can immediately improve if you:<\/p>\n Montages \u2014 which have played an essential role in moving film plots forward for a very long time \u2014 are famous for being especially complex, containing a multitude of moving parts that need to work in concert to create a whole that leaves an impression. To ensure that the script writer's vision for the montage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3373"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3373"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3543,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3373\/revisions\/3543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Flashback Montages<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Parallel Story Line Montages<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Metaphoric Montages<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Passage of Time Montages<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Common Film Techniques Used in Montages<\/h2>\n
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How to Write a Montage in a Script: A Step-by-Step Guide<\/h2>\n
1. Brainstorming Montage Ideas<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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2. Learning How to Format the Script for Your Montage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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3. Including Multiple Locations in Your Montage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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4. Adding Dialogue to Your Montage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
5. Including Details in Your Montage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Analyzing the Script for Your Montage<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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How to Write a Script for a Montage: Important Tips to Keep in Mind<\/h2>\n
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