montage

... is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots is edited into a sequence to condense or exaggerate space, time, and information. 

I love montages!

Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky," montage from the TV show, CSI. The video begins with an agent confronting the lab technician, Hodges, asking why he felt so compelled to run a risky test on an important piece of evidence; he responds that it's his "lucky day," and the montage begins, showing the series of events which led Hodges to this conclusion.

From Toy Story 2, to Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me." In this clip, the cowgirl character, Jessie, is trying to convince Tom Hanks' character that his owner, Andy, will grow up and eventually forget about him, just as how her owner had outgrown her; the viewers see her story during the montage.


Would a set of discontinuous scenes set to music with the intent of selling a product still be considered a "montage"? Here, the entire trailer for the movie Run, Fat Boy, Run is presented in a montage-esque manner (song: The Fratelli's "Chelsea Dagger").

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/8dd5rH4o2Uo/
 This clip is from The Thin Red Line (the 1998 version); the montage begins at 48 minutes into the clip, with the intro of Charles Ives' piece, The Unanswered Question, coming in at around 55 mins. [The last minute of this montage can be viewed here. I just watched this movie for the first time last week, and even though I didn't care a whole lot for its story line, I did think that the director's use of music in the film was pretty clever.  The context of the montage The film takes place during WWII, and James Caviezel's character, Witt, and his company of American soldiers have just taken down a Japanese bunker. The beginning of the montage begins with Witt asking questions about the war and identity of his "enemy," and during this very graphic montage (with diegetic sounds coming in and out, and the film switching between slow-motion and real-time speeds), his company invades a nearby village and extinguishes its soldier inhabitants... I love the way Ives' piece comes into the end of the montage; it's not as dense as the rest of the music was, but it has just as an effective impact, if not more, as the other, more bland music.

>>>Two more, for kicks:

This is short scene (starting at 2:45) from the film, The Truman Show. The lady watching the TV feels sorry for Jim Carrey's character, Truman, who is unknowingly a star in a reality television show (he is sleeping in this scene). As the music begins, you see some of his viewers in the real world fall asleep as Truman sleeps; then, the camera begins zooming out and you see the show's "creator" admiring his work (Truman).... then, the camera zooms out even more, and you realize that the music that had been accompanying the scene was actually (or does it transform into?) a diegetic component/part of the film's plot-- Philip Glass is seen playing the music for the "Truman Show" on a keyboard in a studio as the "creator" admires Truman..!

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103955
From the South Park Episode, "Asspen;" the montage begins at 16:08. This one's a parody of the Rocky "training" montage and the song is actually called "Montage," and its lyrics poke fun of sports/training montages. The context of the clip is that the character Stan is trying to impress a girl by beating another boy in a skiing competition; the only problem is that he can't really ski. (The montage is of him training for the big day.)

More Movies to Check Up On (to add to the list from last time):
-Rushmore
-American Graffiti
-The Royal Tennenbaums (I'd seen this one when I was about fourteen, but didn't really understand it; however, I saw a clip from the film earlier today and now find myself enticed to give it another try...)