Hey, all.
Recently, during story development for our graduation films, it was suggested that I could incorporate a montage in my film. I never considered this beforehand but the more I thought about it, the more I liked this idea.
Key reasons I’d love to add a montage in my film include:
- Picks up the pace in my film, as it was originally quite slow
- Can use this as a tool to add a sense of humour
- Offers the chance to show my character’s personality through a short space of time
For this, I did some research! A few popular montages that I’ve watched include:
1.) Up:
The iconic story of love and loss portrayed in the opening of Disney Pixar’s Up uses detail to convey a very meaningful and emotive story in a short space of time.
2.) Karate Kid:
This is a fun one! As the audience, I really enjoyed this scene. We see Karate Kid developing his skills. A montage has been used to condense his journey towards improving his karate skills (which takes alot of time) in a few minutes!
3.) La La Land:
This montage uses music as a key tool to show us various experiences that all link up
4.) Wreck It Ralph:
This scene shows us the character trying, failing and eventually succeeding in learning how to drive this vehicle – all filled with a sense of humour!
5.) Kung Fu Panda:
In a similar way to Karate Kid, Dreamworks has chosen to use a montage to indicate the passing of time, where the panda gets better and better at kung fu. Realistically, this takes time, hence the use of a montage makes sense to the audience. The director has also chosen to add hints of humour throughout this montage, but it is clear that by the end, the panda has significantly improved his kung fu skills [5].
Summary:
Each of these montages had a unique taste to them. After watching a few of them, I am learning how to make an effective one for my own film. My favourite of all of these however, is Up.
I hope you enjoyed my sharing of these!
Until next time,
Katie
References:
[1] Disney Pixar (2009). Up. [ Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=717Dm2TfBpg&list=PLwXn9IqBeTNltkzFXdbrFo1xyJ5gxxZDP [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
[2] Columbia Pictures (2013). The Karate Kid. [ Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4dv3Yk4iiM [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
[3] Summit Entertainment (2016). La La Land. [ Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puLfYRobgQc [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
[4] Walt Disney Animation Studios (2012). Wreck-It Ralph. [ Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peM4idXEyM8 [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].
[5] Dreamworks (2008). Kung Fu Panda. [ Video ] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oECG2PzobM [Accessed 14 Jan. 2020].