Joseph Decilos

Digital Video Reportage in Context

1 March 2023
Video: https://youtu.be/fzmtjRoE6v4

The Kuleshov Effect in Play

The Kuleshov effect is a phenomenon of film editing in which the viewer's interpretation
of a shot is influenced by the context of the shots that come before and after it. It is named after
Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov, who demonstrated the effect in the 1920s by editing together a
shot of an actor's face with various other shots, such as a bowl of soup, a dead woman in a coffin,
and a girl playing with a toy.
The audience interpreted the shots of the actor as expressing a different emotion
depending on what shot preceded or followed. The Kuleshov effect has been used to illustrate the
power of editing in film and to demonstrate how a viewer's understanding of a film can be
manipulated through editing. I decided to create three scenarios in which a deadpan video of a
woman will be juxtaposed against three different emotionally taxing videos.
In the first video, a woman is serenaded with a song and given flowers—a joyful scene of
love and embrace. When contrasting the happy scene of love and enjoyment against the blank
stare of my subject one can feel tones of jealousy when put in context next to each other.
Next, I recorded a video where a sign outside of a bar reads naked and famous slowly
revealed letter by letter. Not only did this clip add a sense of anticipation, but holistically I
sought for it to add some quirky humor amidst my other clips. The wait for each letter, followed
by a blank stare add some dark-humor to the deadpan face of the women in the consistent clip. I
enjoyed this one the most for the immature humor followed by the same reaction from the
woman.
Finally, I wanted to emulate a feeling of boredom through my last clip. Flamenco is
known as a high-energy dance with lots of passion and noise. This last clip for me acts as a
perfect juxtaposition for this project. Each clip subtly contrasts the still-deadpan look of the
woman but against the flamenco clip, the woman shows a reaction of boredom.
The Kuleshov effect has shown the power of editing and the way it can change the
audience's interpretation of the events occurring. I chose a range of emotions that can be applied
to the woman's face from jealousy, to anticipation and finally boredom. Each clip creates a
different mood in which the audience can infer due to the Kuleshov Effect.