Timeline: Time Control (page 2)

Probably the most popular way to show the passing of a good amount of time in a short amount of screen time is with the montage, made popular with Sylvester Stallone's first Rocky film. It has become a bit of a cliche, so much so that the makers of the South Park animation made a song mocking it in their most recent film Team America: World Police:
LYRICS:
Show a lot of things happening at once,
Remind everyone of what's going on
And with every shot you show a little improvement.
To show it all would take too long.
That's called a montage.

The idea is to show a character improving skills in a short amount of time. The sequence is usually cut to music that reinforces the mood, usually driving, inspirational, upbeat music climaxing with the final achievement of the goal. In Rocky, the boxer reaches the top of the stairs and spins with his arms in the air, victorious.

A great example of a different type of montage can be seen in the extremely stylish film Snatch by Guy Ritchie. Dennis Farina's character tells someone on the phone that he is coming to London from New York City. A quick barrage of shots follows that goes something like this: the phone is slammed down, a yellow NYC taxi door is slammed shut, the taxi "available" light is turned off, sleeping pills are shoved into the mouth of the airline passenger and he drinks them down, the Concorde takes off, the Concorde lands, a British cab door is slammed shut - and the man is in the London office in about six seconds. Each of these shots carries for less than a second, but sound plays a large part in this montage. What makes it work is Ritchie kept each short shot tight, without a lot of distracting clutter, and each shot also has a very distinctive look, color and sound. Check it out.

For a couple quick easy-to-assemble examples of time manipulation, see Videomaker Presents Episode #49.

As you are now seeing, time manipulation can be found in just about every feature film. The cliche's are the most obvious, but watch some of your favorite films, take note of how the filmmakers manipulate time, and simulate these techniques in your works. The great filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was said to have noted that the editing process is the one phase of production that is truly unique to motion pictures. Photography, set design, acting, etc. are all borrowed from other arts, but editing originated with filmmakers about 100 years ago. And one of the main objectives of this unique art form is to manipulate time. Go get manipulative. Time is on your side.

Contributing editor Morgan Paar is a nomadic producer, shooter and editor currently making documentaries in South America.

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