Betancourt, M 2016, Beyond Spatial Montage: Windowing, or the Cinematic Displacement of Time, Motion and Space, 1st Edn, Routledge, New York NY, pp. 57- 62.

One thought on “Betancourt, M 2016, Beyond Spatial Montage: Windowing, or the Cinematic Displacement of Time, Motion and Space, 1st Edn, Routledge, New York NY, pp. 57- 62.

  1. In this chapter, montage is discussed as a concept of time, space and motion as a construct of editing (or lack of editing). Betancourt describes the long take as the ‘pure’ form of montage and is ruptured by the cut. His notion of the long take as montage in a sense of continuous motion and action is interesting as it breaks away from Eisenstein’s montage theory, in which the long take is hardly considered as a mode of montage. In the chapter, Orson Welles’s A Touch of Evil is mentioned, in which the opening sequence is simply one long take. Having noted this when I first saw the film, I was surprised when the author considered it a method of montage. Betancourt describes this sequence as a perfect continuity of motion without the disruptive impact of editing, making it unique.

    This perspective has been valuable in increasing my understanding of montage as a construct. The chapter’s views on the long take and the nature of montage have been useful when compared with Eisenstein’s essays: the focus here is on the shot, whereas Eisenstein’s principle focus in montage is on the cut. Betancourt’s stressing of the importance of the material in the long take, not needing editing, is an interesting perspective which also sheds new light on continuity without editing.

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