Clash different images together to create a meaning that is in none of the individual cuts.
When to use it
Ads with a social message, symbolic comparisons (clock hands to a shrinking balance).
Example videos
(4k) Battleship Potemkin (1925) - Odessa Steps full scene — Real: See the rhythm in which cuts of the crowd, the baby carriage and the soldiers collide and build a terror that is in none of the cuts.6 Ways to Edit Any Scene — Essential Film & Video Editing Techniques Explained (Shot List Ep. 10) — Explainer: See in the intellectual montage chapter an example of joining two images to make a new meaning.Eisenstein's Methods of Montage Explained | Russian Soviet Montage Theory | VIDEO ESSAY — Explainer: A summary of Eisenstein's five methods of montage with film examples.
In AI video, like this
Generate unrelated symbolic cuts separately and cross-cut them briefly so they collide. Design strong contrast in composition and color between the cuts before and after.
One-click prompt
Three-shot sequence, hard cuts, 2 seconds each, strong contrast between shots: Shot 1, a well-fed cat curled on a velvet cushion beside a full bowl; Shot 2, a stray dog in cold rain staring at an empty bowl; Shot 3, a lone coin spinning on a dark table. Different colors and compositions, so the viewer builds the meaning.