How to Write a Good Montage in a Screenplay

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Published: October 20, 2025 | Last Updated: October 21, 2025

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A montage is a series of short scenes or images that show a passage of time, emotional change, or progress toward a goal. It usually includes little to no dialogue and relies on strong visuals.

Screenplay example showing one way to format a montage using short visual beats between MONTAGE and END MONTAGE. — This montage uses double dashes and short action lines to show quick, visual moments. It begins with MONTAGE and ends with END MONTAGE. This is just one way to format a montage, and I’ll show others later in the article.

In screenwriting, montages help you skip repetitive actions, connect related moments, or show how events unfold across time and space. When used with purpose, a montage keeps the story moving and adds rhythm to your script.

Types and Functions of Montages

Different types of montages can help you achieve different storytelling goals. Choosing the right type depends on what you want the viewer to understand or feel during the sequence.

Some focus on time and progress, while others highlight your characters’ emotional arcs, a theme, by grouping a series of visual moments that all reflect the same core idea, even if the characters, settings, or situations are different. Montages are also great for cross-cutting action events.

Here are common types of montages, and what they’re used for:

Linear Montage

Shows a clear timeline of progress. Often used for training, travel, or preparation.

The training montage from Rocky (1976, United Artists) is, of course, a famous example, but my favorite kitsch example is from the 1985 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender starring Kurt McKinney and a young Jean-Claude Van Damme.

No Retreat, No Surrender (1985) took the Rocky training montage to new levels of kitsch.

Thematic Montage

Links unrelated images with a shared theme or concept. Requiem for a Dream (2000, Artisan) is a great example of a montage, which uses time-lapse, to link four different characters.

Requiem for a Dream (2000, Artisan) uses short, repetitive cuts of drug use (like pills, syringes, dilated pupils) linking four different characters. These quick flashes connect their stories through a shared theme of addiction and decay, even though they’re not in the same scenes. The repetition turns their separate struggles into a unified statement about obsession and loss of control.

Emotional Montage

Focuses on a character’s internal change, often using symbolic or personal visuals. Pixar’s opening montage in Up (2009) is a great example. Here you can see the actual animated sequence combined with the script:

The life sequence showing Carl and Ellie’s marriage in Pixar’s Up (2009) compresses decades into minutes (marriage, home renovations, heartbreak, and aging). The visuals express Carl’s inner world more powerfully than dialogue ever could. It’s about love, time, and grief, all told through emotional imagery.

Parallel Montage

Parallel montage uses parallel editing and cross-cuts between characters or storylines happening at the same time in different locations. The life-and-death montage from The Godfather (1972, Paramount) is a great example:

In The Godfather (1972, Paramount), during the baptism scene, the film cross-cuts between Michael Corleone attending the ceremony and his enemies being assassinated. The contrast between sacred vows and brutal murders creates meaning through parallel action, showing Michael’s transformation into the ruthless head of the family.

Comedic Montage

Builds humor through timing, exaggeration, or repetition of unexpected events. Groundhog Day (1993, Columbia) is a great example of a movie that has several comedic montage sequences:

In Groundhog Day (1993), Phil relives the same day and experiments with outrageous actions, like eating nonstop, crashing cars, mocking townspeople, and even trying to kill himself multiple times. Each beat adds a fresh comic twist to the same scenario. In the clip above, he tries to learn as much about Rita as possible, so he can manipulate her into liking him by saying the right things. Obviously, at this point in the movie, he still has a long way to go and a lot to learn.

How to Format a Montage

There are several ways to format a montage in a screenplay. Each has its own purpose, depending on whether your montage stays in one place, moves between locations, or is meant to be felt more than labeled. The goal is always to make the sequence easy to read and easy to shoot.

Single Slugline Format

This style works well when the montage stays in one location or covers a single activity. You can describe the beats using dashes or bullets under one scene heading.

MONTAGE – SARAH TRAINS FOR THE TOURNAMENT

– Sarah lifts weights.
– Sarah runs laps around the gym.
– Sarah spars with her coach, getting faster each time.
– Sarah looks at her bruised hands in the mirror.

Begin / End Montage Format

This format clearly marks where the montage begins and ends. It’s useful when the visuals don’t share a single location or when you want to emphasize the whole sequence as a unit.

BEGIN MONTAGE:

– Kevin flips through dusty files in the archive.
– Kevin falls asleep at his desk.
– Kevin wakes up and points at a photo.

END MONTAGE.

Multiple Location Format

If your montage spans several distinct locations, write it using separate scene headings. This is easier for production planning and helps break the beats into clear visual setups.

INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
Emma scribbles equations on the whiteboard.

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Emma watches science videos, notebook in hand.

INT. LIBRARY – DAY
Emma studies alone, focused.

Implied Montage Format

Sometimes, you don’t need to label the sequence at all. If you write a series of quick, visual scenes back-to-back with consistent rhythm, readers will naturally understand it as a montage. Here’s an example of an implied montage in script form:

INT. APARTMENT – MORNING Maya hits snooze on her alarm. 
INT. KITCHEN – LATER She spills coffee on her shirt. 
INT. ELEVATOR – MOMENTS LATER She’s surrounded by strangers. Her shirt is still stained. 
INT. OFFICE – LATER Maya’s late. Her boss watches her sit down.

None of these scenes are labeled “montage,” but the fast, visual rhythm tells us this is a sequence showing Maya’s rough morning. It reads like a montage because of the pacing and the way each moment builds on the last.

Montages with Voice-Over or Music

When a montage includes voice-over or background music, mention it briefly (see how to write music into your screenplay). You don’t need to name the song unless it’s story-specific, but the pacing should be clear.

BEGIN MONTAGE – VARIOUS LOCATIONS

SARAH (V.O.)
I didn’t know what I was doing at first...

– Sarah packs a suitcase.
– Sarah boards a train.
– Sarah arrives in a strange city.
– Sarah opens a door and steps inside.

END MONTAGE.

How to Write a Good Montage

A good montage is short, sharp, and visual. Every beat should show something new. Avoid repeating the same idea or showing filler. The sequence should move the story forward and reflect change, contrast, or progress. If a moment doesn’t serve a purpose, cut it.

Make Every Beat Count

The visual beats in your montage should show steps that build toward a goal. If you’re writing a heist montage, for example, each beat might show a new phase in the plan.

The crew cases the building.
They build a model of the vault.
They test the alarm system.
They rehearse the getaway.

The Difference Between a Series of Shots and a Montage

A montage is not the same as a “series of shots.” A montage shows progression or emotional movement over time. A series of shots often happens in the same scene, showing rapid action in one place. The difference is rhythm and purpose, and each have its own merit, at the right time.

Here’s an example of a series of shots (or a bad example of a montage, if you will):

MONTAGE – KATIE GETS READY FOR WORK

– Katie brushes her teeth.
– Katie puts on socks.
– Katie pours cereal.
– Katie checks her phone.
– Katie leaves.

Why this is just a series of shots: These actions happen in the same short stretch of time and space. They don’t build toward a change or reveal anything new. That makes it a series of shots, not a montage.

How to fix it: A montage must show progress or transformation. Instead of repeating daily routine, show how the character’s mood, goal, or situation changes:

MONTAGE – KATIE REBUILDS HER LIFE

– Katie updates her résumé.
– Katie interviews nervously.
– Katie packs her old office photos into a box.
– Katie walks into a new job, smiling.

Now the montage shows time passing, effort, and emotional movement. Each beat adds new information, not repetition.

Keep It Visual

Montages are not the place for thoughts or inner dialogue. Show emotion or change through physical actions and visual symbols.

Wrong: “He thinks about what he lost.”
Right: “He stares at a photo, crumples it, and throws it in the fire.”

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Tips for Writing Montage Beats

Write montage beats in present tense and keep them short. One or two lines are enough. Focus on visual action, what can actually be filmed. Avoid inner thoughts or vague emotions.

Use clean formatting like bullets or dashes, and only capitalize props or key items when it matters. Keep the pacing tight. If a beat doesn’t move the story forward, cut it. A good montage is built from movement and change, not repetition.

Why Use a Montage

A montage helps you move quickly through time while still showing meaningful change. You might use one to show progress, like training, learning, or recovering. Or to reveal emotional change through action instead of dialogue.

Montages also help when you need to jump across time between key story events, connect or contrast parallel characters, or add energy or humor through fast-cut visual edits.

But a montage only works when each moment supports the story. Don’t use it just to skip writing a real scene. If something needs depth or a turning point, give it a proper setup with dialogue or emotional weight.

Summing Up

A well-written montage is short, sharp, and clear. It uses visual beats to compress time, highlight change, and keep your script moving. Each beat should have a purpose. Each moment should be easy to picture. Format it cleanly and tie it into the structure of your story. Used well, a montage is one of the most cinematic tools in your screenwriting toolbox.

Read Next: Want to dig deeper into screenwriting?

Start with the Screenwriter’s Toolkit on literary devices vs. elements – a deep resource covering every major literary device and element used in writing.

Then explore our collection of practical writing techniques covering dialogue, structure, and pacing.

Or jump into the free screenwriting course to start your first draft today.

You can also head back to the Screenwriting section for more tools, theory, and breakdowns.