Editing styles and conventions

Montage is used in most films today as a way to package time into a condensed piece of film. There are three meaning of Montage, in French film montage simply means "to edit". In Soviet film making montage is used where shots are used to make a third meaning. This style of montage is used in Oktober by Sergei Eisenstein where he has shots of machines to show that the film is about working people and the people are working like machines. Oktober example.
In the film 2001 Space Odyssey they use montage to show the monkeys evolving. This is the Hollywood meaning of montage, where they package time in a condensed form to show something that is too long to put on film.
Continuity Editing is used so the audience doesn't realise there is editing and so its not obvious. They achieve this by using the 180 rule which is where there is a imaginary line between the two actors and the camera dose not cross this line otherwise it confuses the audience.
In action sequences you use very short clips and fast cuts to keep the action going and the audience ingaged. In action sequences they cut on the action e.g if you do a wide shot of a high five it will not be very dramatic, however if you cut right befor the high five to the other hand it be more dramatic. To keep the continunity in action they have every shot moving in the same direction. 2001 Space Odessey example