Constructive Editing

theory of montage, primarily associated with Vsevolod Pudovkin, that treats individual shots as building blocks. Each shot has no inherent meaning on its own, but meaning is created by combining it with other shots to construct a larger idea or narrative point. This approach contrasts with simply analyzing and breaking down a scene (analytical montage) and instead focuses on synthesizing a new reality from disparate elements. A practical application of this theory is the principle of building scenes from their constituent parts. As described in 'The Technique of Film Editing,' details 'must not be interpolated into the scene, but the latter must be built out of them,' creating the whole in the mind of the viewer. This can be contrasted with pre-planned approaches like 'Story-Based Coverage,' where the 'patterns' for constructing meaning are designed before shooting, giving the editor more intentionally-crafted building blocks.