Film editing is not just about of selecting and re-recording just good footage to form a sequence by Linear and Non-Linear editing. Any film editing course is incomplete without proper understanding the Montage theory of film editing.
Montage is a word derived from French word 'Monter'-which means 'assemble'. Film maker Sergei Eisenstein did pioneering work in the field of montage. Eisenstein argued that film editing represents the rhetorical arrangement of shots in juxtaposition so that the collision between two adjoining images creates a third independent entity- and this gives the audience a whole new meaning of the visual-aural images. He saw montage as a means of eliciting responses from the audience.
Eisenstein classified Montages into 4 types.
1. Metric Montage
In this shots are joined together according to their length with the absolute length of the piece already determined. Such and editing creates tension in the viewer's mind.
Eg. Chasing shots. In editing the chasing scene, one running behind the other the tension is created in the viewer's mind in such a way that as one nears the other.
2. Rhythmic Montage
In this, the action in the frames contrasts with the length of the frames. It includes cutting of scenes based on continuity, creating visual continuity from edit to edit.
3. Tonal Montage
The emotional tone of a sequence directs the montage. Eg. A heroine expression of falling in love with a hero is immediately expressed by the next shot in the montage showing some flowers happily tossing their heads, honey bees roaming across the flowers, or flying birds in the sky. The only thing required to achieve this effect is to make the frames move slow.
4. Overtonal Montage
It is a combination of all the three montages discussed above. This form of montage heightens the sense of powerlessness and isolation that might make the audience worry about something happening on the scene.
Different Perceptions of Montage
Russians use montage in highly complex situations.Americans films mostly use it simply as trimming film.Plainly speaking, cinematic montage is the use of a succession of various visual images/and or sounds to create an emotional impact.Hollywood Montages
Although the concept of Hollywood montages started in the Hollywood the Indian films has also adopted it well.
Time-Transition Montage: The viewer watches a series of different fragmented scenes of a larger event that involves a passage of time.
Eg. A hero's rise from early childhood follows the following sequence. An orphan boy begs in the streets, then works as a shoe polisher, works overtime in the roadside restaurant, does other menial jobs and grows to a respectable businessman status in a sequence of few shots.
Mood Montage: A series of images and sound creates a mood of time and place. It is often used at the beginning of a film. Often used in travel films.
Impact Montage: It is used mostly in Film trailer or film promos. It consists of the process of connecting all bizarre shots carefully chosen to create a suspense and anxiety among audience so that they are compelled to see the film when it is released.
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