Line #46 Main/TimeCompressionMontage


1	->'''Jamie:''' We've filled 2 pontoons, it goes about 3 minutes a fill, we've got 48 yet to go.\
2	'''Narrator:''' Thanks for the warning, we might go to the time lapse here.\
3	''Cue build montage''
4	-->-- ''Series/MythBusters''
5
6	Also called American Montage. One that shows the passing of a long period of time summed up into a handful of key shots.
7
8	Occasionally {{subverted}} for comic effect by a reveal that the events depicted are happening, if not in RealTime, at least in a much shorter timeframe than implied.
9
10	HardWorkMontage is a subtrope. See also TimePassesMontage. For the musical equivalent, see AgeProgressionSong.
11
12	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] [[TimeCrash the literal distortion of time]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII plotted by Sorceress Ultimecia.]] If so, the trope would have been called "Time [[XtremeKoolLetterz Kompression]] Montage" anyways.
13
14	----
15	!!Examples:
16
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has a particularly memorable one in episode 26, complete with that series' rendition of [[OminousLatinChanting Dies Irae]] in the background.
21	** In the manga, chapter 97 begins with eight pages of silent panels, covering the passage of two weeks.
22	* In ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', when Sakaki first pets Mr. Tadakichi, she does so for forty-five seconds real-time. As she does, however, we can see the background steadily go from afternoon to dusk, until finally Chiyo asks if they can go to her house (where the rest of their friends are waiting).
23	* Almost all of the body swapping between Taki and Mitsuha in ''Anime/YourName'' occurs in a couple minutes' worth of scenes with the song ''Zen Zen Zense'' by RADWIMPS in the background.
24	* ''Anime/FateGrandOrderAbsoluteDemonicFrontBabylonia'':
25	** The first six singularities are compressed in episode 0, summarizing Mash's character development as she learns about humanity.
26	** Episode 3 compresses several chapters of Fujimaru and Mash working together in Uruk and slowly accruing credit to make themselves worthy of Gilgamesh's time, which is established to be about a month's time in episode 4.
27	** Episode 12 compresses down the gate trials in the Underworld to only show the beginning of the trial before cutting right to before the final gate where the team reunites with Gilgamesh and he mocks Ishtar's tiny form.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
31	* Lampshaded by the LemonyNarrator in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':
32	--> "Let's just have a nice little montage showing what happened during the week with music playing, shall we?"
33	* ''Fanfic/EscapeFromTheMoon'': The final chapter of the sequel ''The Mare From the Moon'' shows various scenes, jumping forward in time between each one and covering [[spoiler:up to the end of her sentence on the moon]].
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
37	* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''. While Hogarth is in the forest trying to get a picture of the title creature, he is seen hiding behind a log waiting for the Giant to appear, goofing off, and finally falling asleep.
38	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' opens up with one, the song "This Is My Idea" where Derek and Odette are seen at various points in their childhood (typically fighting or otherwise unhappy with each other) and finally [[SlapSlapKiss realizing they're in love]].
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
42	* ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'' movies are famous for [[TrainingMontage Training Montages]], including the meat-punching run-up-the-stairs bit in [[Film/{{Rocky}} the original]] and in ''Film/RockyBalboa'', and a ''Film/RockyIV'' montage showing Rocky and Ivan Drago.
43	** ''Film/RockyIII'' starts with a montage set to the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Music/{{Survivor\|Band}} showing the first three years after Rocky wins the championship title and becoming a world famous celebrity.
44	* In the movie ''Film/InTheLineOfFire'', potential presidential assassin Mitch Leary goes through the stages of putting on facemask makeup via this trope.
45	* Used in ''Film/TheMuppets2011'', in order to speed up the search for the rest of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' cast. And by 'used', we mean it's intentionally invoked by the characters in-universe.
46	* ''Film/IfYouBelieve'': Four key scenes are used to introduce Susan's life before the movie proper begins: Seven-year-old Suzie, thirteen-year-old Suzie, Susan in her early twenties, and Susan as Peter's wife at twenty-seven. These scenes all happen at Christmas with her family, but they are never ''truly'' happy, and each is less happy than the previous one.
47	* ''Film/JojoRabbit'' has one of these set to "Everybody's Got to Live" by Love to bridge the gap of Jojo finding his mother [[spoiler:hanged as a traitor]] in the Fall as the war enters its end stages through the Winter as the Allies get closer and finally to the Spring when they get there.
48	* Happens in ''Film/{{Snatch}}'', when Cousin Avi travels from New York to London, and again when he returns to New York. Both times, the footage is part of a brief, [[SmashCut frenetic]] montage of the whole trip, including a passport getting stamped and Avi downing a drink on the plane.
49	* Occurs several times in ''Literature/RequiemForADream'' to portray drug use.
50	* Happens in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', compressing Shaun's travel from his place to his girlfriend's in a couple of shots.
51	* ''Film/{{Coneheads}}'' traces Connie's childhood through excerpts of home movies set to Music/PaulSimon's "Kodachrome".
52	* After Belle wins her first boxing match in ''Film/{{Knockout}}'', one of these documents several more fights and magazine cover appearances as she makes her way up in the boxing world.
53	* In ''Film/TheSaddestMusicInTheWorld'', the passage of the music contest is compressed in a couple of key shots juxtaposed with music sheets as {{Spinning Paper}}s.
54	* Spoofed in ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'', with a song entitled "We Need A Montage", which explains away the technique as it plays over a montage. "And with every shot show a little improvement; to show it raw would take too long! It's gonna take a ''montage''!"
55	** The same song originally appeared in a ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode
56	** Various montages are also spoofed by [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad]] in one of his [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail117.html emails]].
57	* ''Film/TheChristmasThatAlmostWasnt'': When Santa finally gets to deliver his gifts, after a reprise of "I've Got A Date With Santa."
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* ''Literature/UltimateHero'' has a montage of sorts, with an off-screen reporter getting people to talk about their encounters with Ultimate, the title superhero.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:-Live Action TV]]
65	* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'''s third season opens with a particularly dark Time Compression montage which compresses 3 months of Cylon occupation, including the loss of Tigh's eye.
66	* The final five minutes of ''Series/SixFeetUnder'' provide quite possibly the best Time Compression montage ever.
67	* A {{Blipvert}} montage that depicts ''the beginning of time as we know it'' through present day serves as the title sequence of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''.
68	* On ''Series/{{Top Gear\|UK}}'' these are generally used to compress films involving long road trips or extensive car maintenance. Sometimes spoofed, when a series of clips is shown suggesting that we are seeing the presenters work for hours, and then a visual clue or a bit of dialogue reveals that only a few minutes have passed.
69	* The [[spoiler:fifty years]] that pass while the team are trapped on their spaceship during the series finale of ''Series/StargateSG1'' are shown in Time-Compression Montage. (They get undone [[HeroicSacrifice for every one but one person]].)
70	* There's a short one in ''Series/MythQuest'', as Alex makes an art model pose all night.
71	* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Power of Three", a bored Doctor needs to pass time, so he paints a fence, mows the lawn, and dribbles a football (by his count) over a million times. At the end of the montage, it's still only been an hour.
72	** Taken to the extreme in "Heaven Sent", in which a period of [[spoiler: four and a half ''billion'' years]] is compressed into a montage of brief clips and the Doctor's running "bird" story.
73	* The ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' episode "Manhattan Vigil" starts with a young cop helping a frantic mother put up "missing" posters. Thirteen years pass to a Creator/NorahJones song. The neighborhood decays, the posters are replaced with a mural, the mural is covered by graffiti, and still she waits, seemingly in vain. Then another child vanishes. Cue theme song.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Theater]]
77	* ''Theatre/PokemonTheMewsical'' has one as Ash encounters a man who wants to trade his Farfetch'd, captures Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur, and encounters Team Rocket.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Webcomics]]
81	* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0391.html this]] ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' with Elan's deliberately invoked training montage, where Julio Scoundrél trains Elan in front of false backgrounds to [[BaitAndSwitchTimeskip create an illusion of time progression]].
82	* In the ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' strip "[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2007/02/22/episode-811-visual-shortcut/ Visual Shortcut]]", Red Mage, having devised a plan to travel the entire world talking to everyone, explains they can travel by montage. The next few panels show them in different towns talking to people, while Black Mage complains that none of this makes sense and how is it happening?
83	* ''Webcomic/WildeLife:'' While looking for Clifford [[http://www.wildelifecomic.com/comic/312 here]], complete with AltText: "'I can't believe they only looked three places,' commented someone who doesn't understand montages.'"
84	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Susan [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/parable-016 gaining]] wealth and purity by buying and renting out properties is shown in this way.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Western Animation]]
88	* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' played this for laughs with the superhero [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Ca9cQ3GV4 Montage]]. He has the power to create these by touching his fists together twice and saying "boop boop". Among the things he uses this power for is to build a shed, teach a guy Spanish, travel several miles, and age a guy to near-senility in a matter of a few seconds. Then his arch-nemesis End-Credits Mon comes in and ends the program.
89	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' ruthlessly makes fun of the sports version in their skiing episode.
90	-->In any sport, if you want to go\
91	From just a beginner to a pro\
92	You'll need a montage. (Montage)\
93	A simple little montage! (Montage)
94	* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' will lovingly parody classic eighties montage sequences with the accompanying music of the time, such as "You're The Best Around" or "Everybody's Workin' For The Weekend."
95	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In Episode 234, Kaeloo, Stumpy, and Pretty, encouraged by Mr. Cat, play a cruel prank on Rules which sends her into a state of depression. A montage is then shown of Rules sitting sadly on the ground and ignoring everything around her while the other characters do their own thing, ranging from mundane (such as the main four having a snowball fight) to extreme (such as a full-scale alien invasion of Smileyland).
96	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / TimeCompressionMontage