There are two main theories of audiences - active and passive. An active audience interprets media messages through montage editing and brings their own meanings. A passive audience absorbs media like a sponge without selection, represented by continuity editing. Montage editing uses short shots edited together to advance the narrative and suggest passage of time. The Kuleshov effect showed that identical facial expressions can take on different meanings depending on the shots they are edited with. Different audience theories range from seeing viewers as passive receivers to semi-active opinion leaders to active gratification seekers.