Screenwriting : Opening with a montage by Stuart Clarke Blandford

Opening with a montage

I can hear you all groaning from here in Atlanta. I have a script about a rock band and I'm using a montage to "introduce" them. I'm using this format for this:

Hard rock legend Nüclear Süb montage. Footage of concerts and party sequences mingle with images of platinum records and Rolling Stone covers.

Over time, the images focus more and more frequently on the dangerously handsome lead singer, IAN FLUX (31), and scruffy lead guitarist, GREG “THE AXEMAN” LASALLE (30).

The next (first?) scene is backstage minutes before a show.

I'm about to hear more gasping. There is a SECOND montage formatted DIFFERENTLY! That one is similar in nature to the Rocky training sequences, except with a crap band (not the Süb) improving their musical skills.

MONTAGE

-This

-That

-The Other

END MONTAGE

So...like help?

Maurice Vaughan

I write montages like this:

MONTAGE BEGINS:

Scene

Scene

Scene

MONTAGE ENDS.

Is that what you were asking?

Stuart Clarke Blandford

Pretty much. But very short slices. Using slugs would be unreadable

Cara Rogers

I was on a Table Read last night which included a similar montage. It was mentioned "Series of Shots" might be more appropriate for short/quick. I'm no help on more info lol!

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