The art of the montage
We’ve all seen them before. Our favorite film characters going through an epic series of events to train for the big moment. Or maybe it’s a comedic collection of funny antics that they have gone through. It can even be a nostalgic look into the past.
That’s right, I am talking about the montage. A montage is a sequence of moments that are compiled together to convey a specific idea. One iconic of this is when we see Rocky running around the city preparing for his big fight. These choices of clips paired with the music make the viewer feel ambitious and excited. Montages are such an effective way to show that passing of time in this way.
There are other ways that montages make an effective storytelling tool. One of those is by giving a sense of place by showing the different areas of a particular location. Inspired by the many great montages seen in iconic films, I set forth on creating one of my own.
Cheshire, Connecticut is one of the most historic towns in the Northeast. Many of the original buildings from the 17 and 1800s remain to this day. It is a great area to visit and will make a great location to show off in a montage.
This process started with a lot of planning, which I am not going to get into now. However, I did recently write about my process of planning for such a production.
Having a plan made the process of filming go relatively smoothly. However, I was surprised at how much footage I needed to get to create what ended up being a relatively short video.
If you are interested in the historic Cheshire, or you just want to see the montage I was able to create, the final video can be viewed above.
Readings
The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video – Tom Schroeppel
Chapter 10 of The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video focuses on editing and postproduction for video shoots. In the edit, you can control the viewers perception of the story through what they hear and see. Using techniques like establishing shots, smooth transitions, and carefully paced cuts guide the audience’s understanding of the narrative and focuses their attention on selective details. Being intentional about your transitions and other effects throughout the edit will affect the way the viewer feels when watching your film. An effective editor also ensures variety in framing, angles, and content across consecutive shots to maintain clarity and engagement.
Sound also plays a critical role in editing. Background music and sound effects set the mood and tone for a piece and give a sense of place. Effective audio editing also helps a piece to flow properly; using techniques such as crossfades, and L-cuts is a great way to do this. Each sound element—voice, music, effects—should be mixed on separate tracks to allow for precise adjustments to each
Ultimately, successful editing balances clarity and creativity. Editors must detach emotionally from their work, judging it solely by its ability to communicate the intended message and evoke the desired audience reaction. By adhering to these principles and embracing feedback from viewers, editors can craft polished, impactful programs that resonate with their audience.
Research
To better understand editing styles and understanding how to maintain a particular tone in a piece, I compiled the following examples. Each video was created with its own individual style of editing – all of which are fantastic. These are my inspiration for figuring out and maintaining a style/feel in my piece.
Scott Yu-Jan
Scott Yu-Jan is a professional industrial designer who uses his YouTube channel to work on fun projects outside of his work. This video is one where he creates an iPhone dock inspired by a popular digital clock design.
Scott’s editing style is very particular and is incredibly consistent across his content. It is very fast paced, with quick cuts and a lot of fast movements. He also uses music that builds anticipation and keeps up with the pace of his editing. It all feels very industrial, matching the work that he is doing.
I also appreciate his use of a consistent color pallet and brand for his content. The primary color he uses is white, with warm colors and blacks as accents. This is something that can be important to note for my project because this consistency allows for the whole project to feel like one, which is especially important when creating a montage of different places.
The Studio (Ellis Roven)
Ellis Roven is the lead audio producer for the MKBHD channels and productions. In this video, he discusses new AI audio tools and how they are (and will continue) to affect the industry.
This video goes through ups and downs in pace which match the vibe of what Ellis is discussing in the video. This style of editing keeps the viewer on their toes and allows him to control how they are feeling at any moment in the video. Despite these changes, he maintains consistency in the video with certain cues (i.e. different jazz music tracks through the video that match the current tone and pace.
One great thing about this video is that it is very educational, and he knows his audience. With this, he makes sure to match what is being seen with what is being heard in order to make the video as effective as possible.
Casey Neistat
Casey Neistat is a long-time independent film maker. In my opinion, the thing that Casey does best is presenting a thesis and keeping the video centered around it. It follows a common story structure, which makes the video so effective at portraying his message.
Casey also does a great job at using stylized graphics to maintain a brand and a look. This makes his work stand out from the rest. Like Ellis’s video, it changes pace throughout the video. However, in this case it is more so for the sake of carrying the viewer through the story he is telling rather than keep them on their toes.
Hi! My name is Peyton McKenzie.
I am a professional graphic designer, photographer and content creator.
I encourage you to explore my portfolio to get a better idea of the work I create. If you are interested in working with me or have inquiries of any kind, don’t hesitate to reach out over email.
