NAME- AASTHA GUPTA

ROLL NUMBER- 210231

COURSE- HISTORY HONOURS
PAPER- MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION
Derived from the French word monter, montage essentially means “to
assemble”. A montage refers to the selection of individual or
contrasting film clips or images that are connected to make a whole
sequence. It is usually a sequence of compressed events that occur over
a longer period of time presented in a concise and dramatic way.
Montages enable filmmakers to communicate a large amount of
information to an audience over a shorter span of time by juxtaposing
different shots, compressing time through editing, or intertwining
multiple storylines of a narrative. European montage has been defined
by a synthesis process since the German Expressionists and Eisenstein
in the 1920s, where a film is perceived as being produced rather than
cut. Unlike a sculpture, described by Michaelangelo as being
constructed by cutting down unwanted stone or raw material,
montages represent a working up from the raw material. Despite
retaining its fundamental meaning, it also has more particular
applications, such as dialectical processes that combine several brief
shots to convey a lot of information quickly and a technique for
creating a third meaning from the initial two meanings of adjacent
shots.
The baptism scene in “The Godfather” is one of the most powerful
montages in film history for the symbolic and dramatic charge it holds.
Francis Ford Coppola skillfully switches between the gruesome killing of
the enemies of the Corleone family and Michael's godson's baptism (a
sign of new life and divine protection) during the crescendo of the
movie. The planning and carrying out of the killings take up dozens of
pages in the book, so Coppola came up with the idea to tie the events
together with the baptism as an "invention of the film." Coppola shot
67 frames spanning five minutes, with the first half lasting an average
of six seconds and the second half only lasting about a third as long. It is
important to determine the length of any individual shot, both as it
relates to shots that precede and follow it and as it concerns the action
of the shot. In such Hollywood movies, "invisible editing" was the goal,
and jump cuts were a technique for reducing idle time. By removing the
majority of the movement required to perform a certain task in a film,
the jump cut can keep the action moving, but it must be done
discreetly. Jump cutting in mid-shots are also now allowed for rhythmic
effect.
The "parallel" montage technique enables the director to cut back and
forth between two stories that may or may not be connected or two
scenes that may be occurring simultaneously or happening at various
times, in a montage manner. The baptism scene in The Godfather also
utilizes this technique of cross-cutting or parallel montage. As Connie
and Carlo’s son is baptized, the film cuts to images showing the
murders of the heads of the five Mafia families, murders that Michael
has ordered. The use of parallel editing allows for stark juxtapositions—
sharp contrasts in tone, and often in concept. The use of montage
implies that the murders and the baptism occur simultaneously, and
the juxtaposition of the calm, peaceful, and religious church ceremony
and the frantic, violent murders gives each unexpected new meaning.
The irony between these vastly different scenes is striking
Michael is becoming a godfather in two senses—to his niece, and to his
mafia family. We open in the church, far away and cut closer and closer
into Connie’s baby. The first cut we see dramatizing this contrast takes
us from the hands of Michael and Kay, holding Connie’s baby, to the
hands of another adult, holding a gun. This is the first juxtaposition
where the audience can draw parallels between the two worlds in
which Michael vows himself to live. These two shots are also an
example of match cut as they link two disparate scenes by the
repetition of an action or a form. Had Reynolds and Zinner edited these
as separate scenes, not back-and-forth, the audience would not have
had the same thematic guide from the filmmakers.

In the next cut Michael's cool demeanour illustrates how he

contemplates the impending fatalities as the rifle is being readied. In
the meantime, the infant has stopped wailing and is acting peacefully;
there is a lull in the editing—another quiet before the storm. During the
baptism ceremony, the godparents must respond to questions such as
“Do you reject the glamour of evil?” and “Do you reject Satan and all
his works?” by saying “I do.” Michael’s sincere “I do’s” cement his
position as godfather to Connie’s baby, but the murders he ordered
form a ceremony of their own from which Michael emerges as a
Godfather of an entirely different sort. The infant is once again crying
as the parallel pre-killing cuts abruptly together, heightening the
emotional effect. The first parallel cut where he rejects Satan is
followed by a murder, as can be seen below.
When we then cut back to Michael saying, “I do renounce him.”, we are
pulled into another murder. Along with the organ soundtrack, this
cross-cutting creates a rhythm that punctuates each murderous beat.
Between each of the following murders, there is at least one cut back
to Michael, suggesting his responsibility for the action carried out in his
family’s name.
The duality highlighted by this montage captures the nature of
Michael’s new life. As Godfather, he will be in charge of two very
different families. But at the same time that the montage signals
Michael’s full accession to the title of Godfather, it also shows how he
will differ from his father. Michael’s duplicity, his ability to lie, and his
ruthlessness are all highlighted by this dramatic sequence of images.
Therefore, we see how filmmakers often use montages to quickly get
from one major beat to the next without losing any narrative power or
audience attention. If executed properly, the montage technique within
a film helps the audience to immerse themselves more in the film and
are often responsible for creating some of the most memorable scenes
in a film.