← Animation Glossary

Montage

Montage is like putting together a puzzle of pictures and short video clips to tell a story or show different scenes quickly. It's a fun way to create a fast-paced sequence in an animation where images change rapidly to convey lots of information in a short amount of time.

Please note that Montage is not directly applicable to Brush Ninja.

Montages in animation are fast-paced story snippets that compress time. They are often used to show character growth, although that’s not the only use. They’re a handy tool for animators to quickly share information and feelings with viewers.

Montages work by showing a series of quick scenes or images that move the story along without getting bogged down in every little detail. Animators use rapid cuts to blend these scenes together smoothly, keeping the audience hooked on the evolving storyline.

They’re also great for showing how characters change over time. By putting together a sequence of images or scenes, animators can show how a character grows in skills, relationships, or personality traits. Whether it’s a hero going from beginner to expert or experiencing big emotional moments, montages capture these transformations with depth and detail.

Montages help with smooth transitions between different parts of the story, too. By creatively editing scenes and adding music or narration, animators can move the story forward seamlessly, even when jumping between different times or places. This keeps viewers engaged and connected to the story.

Plus, montages are excellent at stirring up emotions in viewers without needing lots of talking. By combining images, colors, and music in just the right way, animators can create sequences that make viewers feel joy, sadness, excitement, or triumph. This deepens the audience’s connection to the story.

Montages are a fun way for animators to tell engaging stories in animation. They’re a way to condense time, show character growth, transition smoothly between scenes, and evoke strong emotions in viewers. With careful editing and thoughtful choices, animators use montages to craft stories that captivate audiences and stay with them long after the animation ends.

Animation Terms

2

2D Animation

3

3D Animation

A

Alpha Channel

Ambient sound

Animation

Anti-Aliasing

Anticipation

Aspect Ratio

B

Bezier Curve

Bitmap

Blue Screen

Bone Animation

Bounce

Broadcast Standards

C

Camera Angle

Camera Shake

Casting

Cel Animation

Character Animation

Character Design Sheets

Cinematic lighting

Claymation

Clean-up

Close-up

Color Correction

Color Grading

Compositing

Composition

Concept Art

Continuity editing

Cross-cutting

Cut

Cutout nimation

D

Depth of Field

Dialogue

Dissolve

Distributed Rendering

Dolby Atmos

Dope Sheet

Dutch Angle

E

Easing

Emitter

Exaggeration

Eyedropper

F

Foley

Follow through

Forward Kinematics

Frame Rate

Frame

Framing

Freeze Frame

G

Ghosting

GIF File Format

Golden Ratio

Graph Editor

H

High key lighting

Hue and Saturation

I

Inertia

Infographic Animation

Inverse Kinematics

J

Joint

JPEG File Format

Jump cut

K

Keyframe Interpolation

Keyframe

Kinetic typography

L

Layers

Lens distortion

Level of Detail

Lighting

Line of action

Lip syncing

Low key lighting

M

Match cut

Matte painting

Montage

Morphing

Motion blur

Motion capture

Motion graphics

Motion path

Motion trail

Mouth shapes

MP3 File Format

MP4 File Format

N

Network rendering

Non-linear editing

O

Occlusion culling

Onion skinning

Overlapping action

P

Pan

Parallel rendering

Particle system

Persistance of Vision

Phonemes

Playback speed

Plot

PNG File Format

Pose-to-pose animation

Props

Puppet animation

R

Render farm

Rendering

Resolution

Rigging

Rotoscoping

Rule of thirds

Run cycle

S

Safe zone

Scene

Score

Screenplay

Script

Shot

Silhouette

Skeletal animation

Slow Motion

Smears

Sound Design

Sound effects

Soundtrack

Special Effects

Split screen

Squash and Stretch

Staging

Stop Motion Animation

Storyboard

Straight-ahead Animation

T

Time Remapping

Timeline

Timing

Title Card

Title Sequence

Tracking shot

Tweening

V

Vector graphics

Visemes

Voice acting

Voice-over Narration

W

Walk cycle

WebM File Format

Weighting

Wide shot

Z

Z-depth

Zoom

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