Photo Montage
From Rom Com
This is a pretty silly name for it. Basically, at some point after Kati makes the bet with Alex, the cell-phone photos that they each take of people in compromising positions are displayed amusingly onscreen.
SCENE 1
INT. Amer's. Night.
Establishing shot of a booth in the back of Amer's. Alex and Nick are sitting on one side, and Alex's sidekick and a girl (presumably an extra) are sitting on the other. They are talking about Russian literature(?). The girl is eating a pickle. There is a plate of pita in the center of the table and two fountain beverages. (NOTE: The dialogue to follow is entirely spurious and may need revision. The only reason I inserted it was to have an excuse to write about camera angles and all that.)
Chekhov's a hack.
Middle shot. Alex is chewing.
Oh, come on. I think they did a nice job.
Over-the-shoulder shot. The girl is being cheerful and somewhat flirtatious.
I guess...it was nice, but Chekhov is still a hack.
Over-the-shoulder shot of Alex.
Dude, Chekhov is a fucking tool.
Over-the-shoulder shot of Alex's sidekick.
Do you like Dostoyevsky?
Over-the-shoulder shot. He turns. Alex is getting up. He is agitated and groping before him with his hands. He puts one hand on Nick's shoulder.
Well, I suppose...all that Notes from Underground sort of thing...excuse me, I have to--
POV shot. He suddenly falls forward.
Close-up. A drink spills all over the table.
Over-the-shoulder shot. Alex is "accidentally" making out with Nick.
Medium shot. Alex's sidekick takes a picture. The screen freezes in "photo" position.
Oh, sorry. I don't know how that happened.
SCENE 2
EXT. Pool. Day.
Establishing shot of a swimming pool.
INT. Locker room. Kati is wearing a bathing suit. Aimee is wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
Over-the-shoulder shot. Aimee unhooks her brassiere.
Close up. Kati rummaging through her bag for her phone.
Medium shot. Aimee takes off her shirt. It is over her head for a moment. The noise and flash make it obvious that Kati has just taken a photo, and the screen freezes in 'photo' position.
This sort of thing continues, with interspersed moments of Kati and Alex. Alex seduces 4 girls in the same exact place, one of whom is Aimee, and whose picture he is unable to capture since she looks away at exactly the wrong time. This happens two more times as the montage progresses.
Another repeated trope is the score between Kati and Alex, as they find various ways of communicating it: text messaging, notes, etc. We also see them scrapbooking the photos.
At one point Alex is at his home and looking at his landline answering machine, which has like 8 new messages; he starts listening and the first new message is Kati saying something like "Nine to seven", the second is "Ten to seven", etc. etc.; he puts a hand to his forehead in distress.
Previously: Chekhov Play
