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How do you write a montage? I've never really looked into that. Do you say what happens in the montage, or do you plan it out according with the music, or what?
If I was you I'd send a pm to someone who knows format well and than they can help you out even more, I also wrote a montage sequence in my script that's unreleased the same way I seen it done
I began The Burnout with a montage. You have to describe each image separately and insert a space between each image. Don't forget that a page of script averages a minute on the screen. The spaces provide pacing in the story.
I used a montage in episode 18 of BANANA CHAN. I think it's important to describe generally what the scenes entail without getting into complete detail about the sequence in which those scenes are arranged, because that's up to the editor.
If I change location, like from otside to inside a house, do I have to do a new like "INT. HOUSE--MONTAGE--DAY" or do I just keep going with the spaces and stuff?
If I change location, like from otside to inside a house, do I have to do a new like "INT. HOUSE--MONTAGE--DAY" or do I just keep going with the spaces and stuff?
Here's a MONTAGE Sequence from CINEMA PARADISO shooting script..
It's the final scene when all the cuts from all the films seen in the Italian community cinema are edited and put together in a montage for the main character, SALVATORE, to see.. This is the grand finale of this movie.. Notice there is no mention of MONTAGE, it is simply described in the screenplay as a sentence or paragraph.. This would be a good way of doing this in a SPEC SCRIPT format..
ROME. STUDIO VIEWING-ROOM. INT. DAY
...SALVATORE'S hands giving a STUDIO PROJECTIONIST the rusty metal can left him by ALFREDO.
SALVATORE Please check the splices. As soon as you're ready you can start.
PROJECTIONIST OK. Congratulations on your film. It's terrific.
SALVATORE Thanks.
A COLLEAGUE of SALVATORE comes up behind him.
SALVATORE (CONT'D) Well?
COLLEAGUE The distributor is opening up the film earlier. The press conference is in the afternoon. The actors will also be there, the producer, just about everyone.
An ASSISTANT comes up to them.
ASSISTANT The official notification of the award just came out, but we've already received a mountain of telegrams. Aren't you happy?
SALVATORE It's all right. We'll talk about it later.
SALVATORE walks off towards the viewing theatre.
SALVATORE is by himself in the small viewing theatre. Now the lights go down. The beam of light shines out of the little square hole of the projection booth and the screen lights up. A number trailer goes by and then SALVATORE sees the first shots.
A start of intense amazement and joy suddenly runs through him, astounds him, delights him. It's the best piece of film he has ever seen...
It consists of all the kisses ALFREDO cut out of the films and kept for him, when he was a little boy. They have been spliced together, one , after the other, at random, same of them even upside down. And yet it looks like a first- rate editing job.
In rapid sequence the passionate kisses between actors and actresses, names famous and names unknown in the history of movies. Greta Garbo, Gary Cooper, Alida Valii, Rudolph Valentino, Ingrid Bergman, Clark Gable, Anna Magnani, Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Amedeo Nazzari, Luisa Ferida, Vittorio De Sica, Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Power, Doris Durante, Massimo Gironi, Marta Abba, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Assia Noris...
A whole movie season summed up in a few fragments, a few seconds. A bizarre, poignant, melancholy parade.
SALVATORE is overwhelmed, moved to tears. It is the most profound act of love he has ever seen. He laughs as tears shine in his eyes. Up on the screen, another kiss, the last kiss marking the happy ending of a film. And the age-old words appear 'THE END'.
Here's the standard on it via the Screenwriter's Bible.
A Montage is a sequence of brief shots expressing the same or similar idea, such as a passage of time, or a stream of consciousness. Here's a common format:
MONTAGE - SUZY AND BILL HAVE FUN TOGETHER
-- They run along the beach. Suzy raises her countenance against the ocean spray.
-- They bicycle through a park.
-- Bill buys Suzy ice cream at a small stand. She stuffs it into his face. The patrons chuckle.
And, of course, you would end the montage with BACK TO SCENE or END MONTAGE or a new master scene heading. It's okay to include dialogue in a Montage, but generally the focus is on the beats of action.
In a very short Montage, you can simply write the Montage in paragraph form beginning with the word MONTAGE followed by a colon and the narrative description (or even semi-colons, right R.E.?)
Some studios and productions companies prefer a Montage format that lists location, then action.
MONTAGE - SUZY AND BILL HAVE FUN TOGETHER
-- A beach - They race across the sand. Suzy raises her countenance against the ocean spray.
-- A park - They bicycle down meandering paths.
-- An ice cream stand - Bill buys Suzy an ice cream cone. She stuffs it into his face. The patrons chuckle.
This style can also be used with the SERIES OF SHOTS.
Similar to the MONTAGE is the SERIES OF SHOTS, consisting of quick shots that tell a story. They lead to some dramatic resolution or dramatic action, whereas a MONTAGE focuses on a single concept. Here's an example of how to format the SERIES OF SHOTS.
SERIES OF SHOTS
A) The classroom spins.
B) The professor, in a panic, jabs the computer tab key.
C) He tosses the computer out the window.
D) He peers out the window, clutching his little dog.
E) Dean Zelda Zack rides up on her swagger stick, hurls the computer back at him, and CACKLES.
BACK TO SCENE
The MONTAGE is used more than the SERIES OF SHOTS. Even when the sequence is a true SERIES OF SHOTS, the MONTAGE format is often used. Sometimes the heading MONTAGE is used and then the shots are numbered exactly like the SERIES OF SHOTS example above. The rules are fluid here, and the terms are often used interchangably. Use both devices sparingly.
Generally, a MONTAGE in the script is scored to music in the movie. For example, the MONTAGE above of Suzy and Bill could be lengthened to be accompanied by a love song -- the MONTAGE concept would be "falling in love." The training MONTAGE from ROCKY is another example. Thus, the word MONTAGE often means: put the hit song here. Now, don't you indicate the musical selection you'd prefer. In fact, don't refer to music at all. That's someone else's job.