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"Montage, a transliteration of the French word montage, originally means assembly, composition, and by extension, editing and assembling in film art." In the film shooting process, shoot a series of different pictures or scenes, paragraphs such as different times, different places, different shooting methods, angles, etc., and combine these shots according to certain rules and sequences, different combinations will produce different narrative effects, montage techniques to combine these shots.
Griffith's skillful use of montage techniques in his films "The Birth of a Nation" and "The Party is the Same and Different People" marks the birth of montage films on the stage of film art as an irreplaceable part.
Pudovkin also pointed out the importance of montage technique by saying that "the foundation of film art is montage". Editing and combining the whole in montage seems to consist of small details that are related or unrelated, but "what is combined in montage is not actually some details, but countless general concepts about things or phenomena produced by details according to the laws of the partial representation of the whole." ”
In Montage, Eisenstein analyzed in detail the appearance of Peter the Great in Pushkin's long poem "Poltava", adapting the long poem into multiple sub-shot scripts, and the clever combination of these shots produced amazing results.
A series of montage techniques break the linear rules of direct narration in the use of literature, and are complemented by a variety of content, which can achieve an uplifting effect similar to "preempting other things to cause the words sung".
Section 1 Narrative Montage
Narrative montage is one of the most common montage techniques in film shooting, which is conducive to the audience to understand the background of the story, the plot of the story, as well as the cause and effect and climax of the story, so as to deepen the understanding of the film. Narrative montage condenses the time and space of the film and expands the content of the film by making a series of editing and combining shots, pictures, and paragraphs.
1. Parallel montage
Parallel montage respectively explains how two or more narrative threads develop in different places at the same time, in different places at different times, in different times and in different places.
The story thread of parallel montage is parallel and list, which, like other narrative montages, changes the original single narrative mode, expands the content of the film in a relatively fixed film time through different story clues, and enhances the narrative effect.
When using parallel montage, multiple story threads in storytelling are not as complicated and detail-oriented as a single clue, but through summary and refinement, the key points of the story and other prominent aspects are displayed, and the parallel expression of two or more clues can form a contrasting observation, thereby highlighting the theme of the film.
In the indignant student production "Agarwood Crumbs - The Second Incense", on the night of Roger's marriage to Suxiao, a parallel montage is used to tell two clues in parallel: one is the small turmoil caused by Suxiao's escape, and the other is Roger's pain and self-emptiness. On the one hand, he was frightened and fled the apartment, panicked and came to the student dormitory to beg for the student's help, telling the student that Roger was a beast.
Born with a "sense of responsibility" to protect him, he took Shuxiao back to the apartment to change clothes when Roger was not at home, accompanied Shuxiao to the principal's and Maoris' office to expose Roger's "crime", and finally followed his mother and Li Li Pi home. Roger, on the other hand, quietly returns home after searching for details, pondering the causes of his pain in a series of events.
At dawn, a man quietly came to the beach for a day. After waking up, he came to Mrs. Miqiuer's house and reconnected with the delicate narrative clues at this time.
The use of parallel montage here gives readers who are still immersed in the marriage of the two strong visual impact, and these two clues are finally unified to deepen the reader's feelings of ignorance and Roger's pitiful, and also hint that only Roger understands the origin of the incident in this farce, and only Roger has not yet understood the impact of the storm on himself.
Roger and Roger then reconcile as if nothing had happened, but the fatal crisis that Roger brought to Roger is slowly spreading over time.
"Genesis" tells the story of three women, Ziwei, Quan Shao's grandmother and Xiaozhu, which mainly takes the story of Ziwei and Zizhu as a clue, telling the decline of an old family and the intergenerational problems between generations.
The novel begins with the story of Zhu Zhu: Kuang Jiaxuanhe's past does not belong to her, and all she has is poverty and embarrassment. As a new generation of women, Xiaozhu can work freely and love freely, but she is forced by the old aristocratic concept of doormanship to secretly work and make friends outside without Ziwei.
For her, there is no kindness at home, whether it is studying, working or making friends, not only can she not control it freely, but she is also accused by her elders. Grandma Quan Shao, as the connector of the two clues of Ziwei and Zizhu, not only has to explain to Ziwei about making friends with Zizhu, but also cares about Zizhu's behavior outside, and she has to be blamed by Ziwei and Kuang Yangyi for working in the kitchen all day long.
Zi Wei's dowry is the source of the Kuang family's economy, and Zi Wei's status in the family should naturally be highly respected.
Ziwei's beauty and wealth also gradually drained with her love and patience for the Kuang family, and the scolding of "the bad seed of the Kuang family" not only cleared her relationship with the decline of the Kuang family, but also expressed her dissatisfaction with the Kuang family. Zi Wei recalled the scenery when she was a child and when she got married, and she couldn't help but feel sad from it.
The typical three generations of women in this family are lonely and repressed. The stories of these three women are juxtaposed in parallel, and each person's story can be brought out individually to become a wonderful story.
The use of parallel montage makes the three interdependent and mutually propelling narrative modes: from the embarrassment of the youngest generation of Zhuzhu, leading to the embarrassment of the grandmother of Quan Shao, through Ziwei's memories to contrast the downfall of reality, the comparison of three generations of different women, and finally finally get the word "loneliness", Zhang Ailing's desolate aesthetics is also reflected in the parallel juxtaposition of the daily trivial lives of these three women.
2. Cross montage
Compared with parallel montage, cross-montage also tells two or more clues, both of which enrich the narrative effect and enhance the narrative strength of the film through the development of multiple clues. The difference is that multiple clues between parallel montages unfold in parallel, and the correlation is not as strong as cross-montage.
Cross-montage, also known as alternating montage, is the frequent and rapid grouping of plot threads of different stories, "the development of one clue often affects or determines the development of another or several clues, interdependent, mutually reinforcing, and the last few clues meet together." "It not only quickly conveys the tense plot, but also gives the audience a strong visual impact. According to this feature, cross-montages are often used to set up suspense and express a tense, intense atmosphere.
The main plot of Qiqiao after everyone served the old lady and finished breakfast, staying and talking alone with the old lady uses cross-montage, giving rise to two story threads of Qiqiao and Yunze opposing each other, intertwining the main four shots: Shot 1: Qiqiao talks to the old lady; Shot 2: Sister-in-law Jingzhen and Yun Ze eavesdropped on the balcony, and Yun Ze walked away angrily; Shot 3: Dialogue between Toraise Zhen and Lan Xian; Shot 4: Yun Ze cried, and everyone was encouraged.
Of the four shots, shot one is the starting point, and shot four is the end of this story segment, and the four are presented alternately with the main purpose of showing the image of Qiqiao. Although the dialogue between Qiqiao and the old lady is not explicitly shown in the novel, it is the main clue and runs through the other three shots, affecting their occurrence and development.
Yun Ze's angry walking and crying are closely related to what Qi Qiqiao said, and the novel first depicts Yun Ze's reaction, and then relays Qi Qiqiao's words by Toraise Zhen, Yun Ze's reaction of "his face is snow-white", "clenched his fists" and "holding his face and crying" arouses the reader's curiosity and nervousness. The image of Qiqiao's nosy and gratuitous rumors came to life, and everyone's attitude of disgust and disgust towards Qiqiao's words and deeds was revealed.
In "Lust and Caution", Wang Jiazhi and the wives of high-ranking government officials of the Wang puppet government play mahjong (incident 1), Wang Jiazhi and Mr. Yi buy diamond rings (incident 2), and the secret agent assassinates Mr. Yi and is shot (incident 3) in one day. The novel begins with a mahjong table and ends with a conversation at the mahjong table, forming a circular closed narrative structure.
The tense narrative rhythm of the novel is achieved by stitching together Wang Jiazhi's memories through flashbacks: the reactions of Mr. Yi and Kwong Yumin to the changes in Wang Jiazhi's chest; Mr. Yi promised to give Wang Jiazhi a ring; the excitement and nostalgia after performing patriotic historical dramas in college; Discuss beauty plans with Kwong Yu-man and others.
forged Mrs. Mak's identity to get acquainted with Mrs. Yi and Mr. Yi; having sex with Liang Minsheng; With Mr. Yi, Mrs. Yi, etc., a series of scenes have their own independence, not only the clues of Wang Jiazhi and others conspiring against the beauty bureau, but also the scenes when Wang Jiazhi and Mr. Yi get along, and often interspersed with Wang Jiazhi's psychological feelings, which are spliced together through cross-montage techniques, and each clue influences each other and connects into a complete narrative line.
It not only explains the ins and outs of the scene where Wang Jiazhi assassinates Mr. Yi as a spy, but also depicts Wang Jiazhi's delicate psychological process, thus creating a dangerous and tense atmosphere. The effect conveyed by this series of cross-montages had a strong impact on the final release of Mr. Yi, but Wang Jiazhi's distrust of his companions and their ridicule and contempt, as well as the tense mental state that it would be too late if it was not successful, and the hazy and ambiguous feelings for Mr. Yi were the reasons why Wang Jiazhi let Mr. Yi go at the last thought.
3. Repeat the montage
Repeat montage, also known as reproduction montage, means that the same content is presented multiple times in the film, and this content is not limited to props, but also includes actions, scenes, paragraphs, etc.
Multiple appearances of content can deepen the impression and guide the audience to think deeply about the deep meaning of the reproduced content. Repetition montages are similar to repeated emphasis in literature, and they also use repetition to achieve or emphasize importance, or metaphorically describe the fate of the protagonist, or deepen emotions.
Repeat montage, as a category of narrative montage, emphasizes supplementing complete narrative clues, and highlights the narrative effect that the film wants to express.
In terms of appearance description, Zhang Ailing uses repetitive montages to portray the characteristics of characters that are out of tune with the times. Ji Ze's appearance has not changed ten years ago, and he still has a fat face and impatient eyes. Ji Ze, as the least advanced person in the family, is contaminated with the bad habits of leaving the old and the young, and he lost money ten years ago, and ten years later he still can't get benefits when dividing the family property.
In addition to Ji Ze, there is also Changbai. "The Legend of the Golden Lock" has three descriptions of Changbai's appearance, leaving us with the impression that they are all thin and white, their mouths tremble and emit a little light, unhealthy body shape, compared to Ji Ze, Changbai completely follows the living habits of the widow, and killed his wife at the instigation of Qiqiao.
The repeated portrayal of their appearance and demeanor in the novel carries a deep meaning: no matter how long Zhang Ailing's widows and children have precipitated, or how many changes have gone through in the world, they are still an outdated old person, in the world of Zhang Ailing's novel, "retained the lewd air of the late Manchu Qing dynasty, and closed the door to be the small Empress Dowager Cixi." ”
Repeating montages can play a role in driving the storyline by revealing the fate of the characters. Chang'an's unfortunate fate can be reflected not only in the oppression of Qiqiao, but also in her two self-abandonments and the reenactment of music.
Chang'an's first self-abandonment was due to his strong self-esteem and unwillingness to lose face in front of his classmates, so he took the initiative to ask his mother to give up his studies. Secretly playing the harmonica in the middle of the night, the suppressed singing hints that Chang'an's happy life of half a year is about to be lost forever.
The second time was to avoid embarrassment and voluntarily give up her love with Tong Shifang, "This is the perfect part of her life, instead of letting others add an unbearable tail to it, it is better for her to end it early." When saying goodbye to Tong Shifang, Chang'an faintly heard the music of Longlongago, and went to find the person playing the harmonica like a magic, but found that it was a different tune. The first self-renunciation and playing harmonica is a remembrance of the lovely friends and living campus life that are about to be lost.
The second self-renunciation and misidentification of Longlongago shows Chang'an's inner yearning for a better life and beautiful love. Academics and love are both related to Chang'an's future life, and the two self-renunciations and the reappearance of music suggest that the pursuit of beauty is uncontrollable and ethereal for Chang'an. One hope after another was lost, and Chang'an also walked step by step into the place where there was no light.
Repetition montages can also move the story forward by suggesting psychological changes in the characters. When Wei Long had not yet come to live in her aunt's white house, she wanted to clean herself and study hard. The first time I went to my aunt's house with my luggage, I was frightened by the variety of clothes and the golden wardrobe in my room.
Under the background of the music downstairs, Wei Long carefully tried on them one by one. That night, Wei Long lay in bed in a daze fantasizing about trying on beautiful clothes and dancing in the closet, and this series of dreams satisfied her, Wei Long was a person who could not withstand temptation after all. Three months later, Wei Long's wardrobe reappeared. This time she didn't try them on secretly, because these luxurious clothes belonged to her, and Wei Long had already worn them on different occasions in the past three months.
Compared with the feeling of opening the wardrobe for the first time, Wei Long knew that she was already addicted to such a life, and Wei Long thought that she had to find a wide man to leave here, but she didn't want to take her aunt's path, which thought of Qiao Qi.
The repetition of the wardrobe shows the process of changing Wei Long's state of mind, and also promotes the development of Wei Long and Qiao Qiao's story. In "Heart Sutra", Xu Xiaohan and five friends sat on the roof trunk to chat, in the chat before Xiao Han went downstairs, Xiao Han said seven "my father" in a row, these seven "my father" not only exposed Xu Fengyi's poor memory, did not like Shanghai, nagged back to the countryside, and put a lot of effort into the house because of superstition, but also showed Xiao Han's pride and pampering of his father's youth.
The constant repetition of words makes the reader wonder along with her friends: "I only hear her mouthful of daddy long dad short." What about her mother? Still alive? "Is it her own mother?" The repetition of a series of words fragments can spy on the psychological complex of Xu Xiaohan's love father, paving the way for future plot development.