Scene analysis

I’m analyzing the best montage scene of all time, the “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” sequence from Footloose.

• :00- The scene begins panning up from the ground to look through a window at two young men sitting in a car. Though the framing of the shot remains the same, the first 30 seconds of the scene jumps between multiple 5-8 second long clips of one character taking different tactics to teach the other one to snap in rhythm. This technique implies a progression of time without the viewer actually having to sit through a prolonged scene of poorly timed snapping.

 

• :30  We cut to a shot, a wide shot of the rhythm deficient character lying in his bed while he continues to snap and move his body in time to the song that we the audience, and presumably the character as well (thanks to headphones and a tape player) can also hear. Even though we’re in a totally new location the continuity from the original shot is maintained because it is clear that the action from the previous shot is being continued.
• :39- Wide shot of both characters walking across the screen, followed by close ups of each characters after stopping mid screen, looking at eachother. These shots maintain the 180° rule as well as the eye match rule.
• The next three shots are jump shots of the two characters (and sometimes some small friends) continuing to practice in different environments. This also implies progression of time (and increase in skill) and moves the story forward.
• 1:09 - We cut between four different shots. First, a chest up shot of one of the boys bouncing back and forth. Second, a floor level shot of his feet pounding on his bedroom floor as he bounces back and forth. Third, a shot of a chandelier shaking. Fourth, a wide shot of two older people in a kitchen glancing up in a concerned manner. Even though we don’t see any of these things at the same time it is obvious that the dancing boy is the cause of the shaking chandelier and then concerned adults.
• 1:33 - After some wide shots of running/dancing across fields we cut to a wide shot of the two boys dancing together in the middle of a gymnasium followed by cutting to a close up shot of the same scene that maintains the 180° rule.
• 1:49 - cut to a scene that we have seen before (the boys dancing with two little kids in front of a flower bush)
• 1:59 - We’re looking through bleachers from behind to see the boys feet dancing (in rhythm!), in the next shot the camera has moved a full 180° but the 180° isn’t broken between we first see the boys faces before jumping to a shot of their feet from the front. Because the the shots of the feet are broken up the audience isn’t confused by the shift in camera angle.  
• 2:17 - a wide shot and close up that maintain the 180° rule.
• 2:33 - The final chunk of this totally epic montage cuts between wide shots of Willard, the rhythm deficient character very successfully dancing his heart out and Ren, the rhythm having teacher, joyfully watching him.

Totally failed to hit publish on this on Thursday. My bad.