In the words of DeBartolo:

Vertov was the founder of Soviet documentary, and he was an enthusiastic opponent of the theatre, staged events and fiction in film. Vertov loved machines and the tricks that the camera was able to do fascinated him. "Man with a Movie Camera" is a result of his fascination. He filmed "Man with a Movie Camera" using a candid camera, filming undercover or from a distance, using split screens, dissolves, superimposition, slow motion, crude animation and freeze frames. He seemed devoted to tram cars, shuttle looms, traffic signals, and motor cars, and he traveled throughout the country side and into factories.

Shortly thereafter, Vertov would make his first sound film, Enthusiasm. By this time, Vertov was allegedly disgusted with the sort of mainstream, narrative-based cinema that was so popular with the working-class public - and which today continues to triumph in the form of Hollywood entertainment...
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