ABSTRACT
Time is a crucial factor in film. How time is created in a script and maintained through to the final cut is essential. What happens when time factors are neglected at the script stage? Montages, which are often discovered only at the editing stage, can be designed during the script stage. They allow the compression of time and eliminate non-dramatic scenes. The concepts of the ticking clock and film time are discussed, along with mentions of Christopher Nolan’s time-themed films, such as Memento and Inception. Excerpts from the screenplay of Pulp Fiction help illustrate the concept of film time, with accompanying images. Determining when to accelerate time through montages, such as in The Queen’s Gambit, is contrasted with the need to let a scene play out longer, as in the waterfall battle in Black Panther.
