montage

Montage is a film editing technique and artistic method that arranges a sequence of shots or images to produce meaning derived from their juxtaposition, rather than from any single shot alone. The term comes from the French montage meaning assembly or editing. In cinema, montage emphasizes the relationship between shots—often to compress time, convey a passage of events, or evoke a specific idea or emotion.

History and theory: The concept took shape in the early 20th century, notably in Soviet cinema. Sergei Eisenstein argued that montage could generate meaning through collision of shots, a so-called montage of attractions, using metric, rhythmic, tonal, and intellectual approaches. Other filmmakers such as Vsevolod Pudovkin and Dziga Vertov explored related editing practices, while the Kuleshov experiment demonstrated that viewers attribute meaning to sequences of shots irrespective of the content of individual frames. The Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potemkin is often cited as a landmark example of montage technique.

Techniques and forms: Montage sequences can compress time, reveal causality through juxtaposition, or create associations by contrasting images. Photo montage, or photomontage, extends the concept to still images and collage, and played a prominent role in Dada, constructivism, and propaganda, with artists such as John Heartfield and Hannah Höch.

Applications: Montage is used across film, television, advertising, music videos, and digital media to shape viewers' interpretation, pace, and mood. Beyond cinema, the idea of montage informs multimedia art and narrative storytelling, where the arrangement of separate elements forms a cohesive whole.