Production Journal Reflection Week 4

Reflection Journal Week 4 - The uses of Montage in films


In this week's lesson, we talked more about montage and how they are categorize into different types.
Before I talk more about them. Lets get a basic understanding of what a montage is for.

According to film,
The functions of Montage is using a series of shots that weave together to communicate an information over a period of short time.

In other words, the objective is to make the cuts 'invisible' to the audience understanding.

However, through the use of this there are different types of montage to convey that understanding.
Such as:

- Metric
- Rhythmic
- Tonal
- Overtonal

In terms of preference, some of my favourites would be Metric and Rhythmic simply due to the tension of the film approach it creates. I like action films a lot as it creates alot of adrenaline and energy. One example of Metric montage is this advertisement I saw back when we were discussing about our TVC project.

 

A - Polic

B - Thief

As you can see, the tension builds up in character A is shown seeing B and thinking about chasing him. At the same time, B has noticed that A wants to chase him and wants to run away. To demonstrate the chase that follows, the editor uses an identical number of frames to display a close-up of A as he does to display the face of B. Once the chase begins, and the film maker cuts back and forth between A and B, the shots of each one of them gets progressively shorter as A reaches B. As the chase reaches the climax the length of each shot may get shorter but they remain the same with respect to A and B. The video ends with an unexpected twist when both of them stopped to take a look at the washing machine, thus creating a punchline. The trick is to create tension by shortening each shot while preserving the original proportions of the formula.

"Over a period of time, however, barring a few film makers, montage has been practically reduced to the use of a succession of visual images and/or sounds to create emotional impact."

- Vasuki Belavadi

The other montage I mentioned earlier is the Rhythmic Montage. While in metric montage, the content is determined by the absolute length of the sequence, in rhythmic montage, the action within the frame is given equal weight as the actual physical length of each shot. The rhythm of the montage hence conflict with the rhythmic of the movement within the frame, as a result generating tension too.

However, to my understanding, this seems more confusing than metric montage as I feel the frames do not piece together in a chronological order sometimes. At times I may even get lost at what is happening. In other words, not much of a clarity of what is happening. Could be many things happening at a scene, and less sense of focus.

 To conclude, montage are used to show what is happening in the scene through the use of different cuts, and piece them together. Some may be used to create tension or the opposite. It is being used depending on situation of the story in the film. However, I feel that the mixture of montage in a film gives a better understanding. A mixed of emotion brings the viewer's on a roller - coaster ride and thus making the film more interesting!