Montage Research

I'm wanting to do a good job of the Rock Climber documentary and especially want the opening montage to be interesting and exciting to keep the viewer's interest.

I think we did a good rough cut but must take into account Chris's comments about shortening the length of the montage to no more than 30 seconds, so as not to become tedious, and to use the flow of the music and changes in pace of the music to match the action on screen, like the looking over the edge shot that is pulling back as the climber climbs up the rockface.  Chris showed us how this fits better with a certain change in the music.

I have been looking at different montages to see how they are compiled and how the action cuts together.

By far the best example of montage that I found is the SKY TV advert for the launch of their James Bond 007 dedicated SKY Movies channel.

This montage cut together car chases and action from Bond films featuring all the different actors who have played Bond.

The film connects all the clips really well, with shots and reaction shots linked.  This forms a really clever, intriguing film.

I also found some bad examples of montage that didn't work so well.  For example, this montage that is used on a Widnes Rugby DVD.  The action doesn't line up with the music at all.  As a viewer I seemed to be pulled in two different directions, one by what I was supposed to be looking at and the other by what I was listening to.  There is no connection and smooth flowing.  It seems quite awkward to watch.

I have done rugby films in the past and used montage, and because there is so much footage available; smooth flowing shots of a player taking a kick at goal or taking a line out, putting boots on, or even slow motion player scoring a try, and rapid fire shots such as the actual kick, a tackle, the engaging of a scrum, weight training, ref blowing whistle etc, there is plenty of options for most changes in the music. 

I enjoyed putting together the 90 second SHU promo film from using trailers, and want to look into this further.  I like creating montages and am starting to notice how often they are used in TV, for programme trailers, title sequences, at the end of sports programmes, in reality and lifestyle type shows.

I wonder if this could be my forte? I'll need lots of practice and to conduct lots of research, but it's worth looking into as it's something I enjoy doing.