Kuleshov was among the first to theorize about the relatively young medium of the cinema in the 1920s. For him, the unique essence of the cinema — that which could be duplicated in no other medium — is editing. He argues that editing a film is like constructing a building. Brick-by-brick (shot-by-shot) the building (film) is erected. His often-cited Kuleshov Experiment established that montage can lead the viewer to reach certain conclusions about the action in a film. Montage works because viewers infer meaning based on context. Sergei Eisenstein was briefly a student of Kuleshov's, but the two parted ways because they had different ideas of montage. Eisenstein regarded montage as a dialectical means of creating meaning. By contrasting unrelated shots he tried to provoke associations in the viewer, which were induced by shocks. But Eisenstein did not always do his own editing, and some of his most important films were edited by Esfir Tobak.
Kuleshov was among the first to theorize about the relatively young medium of the cinema in the 1920s For him the unique essence of the cinema — that which could be duplicated in no other medium — is editing He argues that editing a film is like constructing a building Brick-by-brick (shot-by-shot) the building (film) is erected His often-cited Kuleshov Experiment established that montage can lead the viewer to reach certain conclusions about the action in a film Montage works because viewers infer meaning based on context Sergei Eisenstein was briefly a student of Kuleshov's but the two parted ways because they had different ideas of montage Eisenstein regarded montage as a dialectical means of creating meaning By contrasting unrelated shots he tried to provoke associations in the viewer which were induced by shocks But Eisenstein did not always do his own editing and some of his most important films were edited by Esfir Tobak