What Is The Kuleshov Effect
From 1910 to the 1920’s Lev Kuleshov created an effect with film that drew attention from around the world.
What made it interesting is that the outcome is purely a mental effect based upon perception that was called the Kuleshov Effect.
Short films were recorded that were unrelated from one another. They were spliced together in a sequence.
When played it created a mental association from one short clip to the next impacting the viewers perception.
The key desire behind this effect was to infer meaning upon the objects within the film art. It was a way to create context and storytelling more than create emotion.
Although emotion could and would be stirred within some of the context.
Example From A Kuleshov Film
Kuleshov recorded Ivan Mosjoukine’s facial expression. Within this particular film he would use this same clip recording with the same facial expression.
This expression would be played before each succeeding image.
In this way Kuleshov had a constant which he could prove was not altered or otherwise influenced by the actor, for it was the same face with the same expression.
What came next was purely the perception of the audience.
As the film began the audience would see Ivan’s facial expression, and then the film would switch to a bowl of soup.
The audience then stated how Ivan’s focus was on the food wishing he could have it or had not of forgotten it.
The next clip continued by showing the same exact clip of Ivan’s facial expression. The following image was of a girl in a coffin. The audience then expressed how he was in sorrow and lamenting the girls death.
In the next clip, once again the same video of Ivan’s facial expression was displayed as before. The following image was of a woman. The audience then stated how he was looking at her lustfully.
What the audience did not know is that Ivan’s facial expression was one recording. It was the same recording which was played again and again before each of these images.
The alternating images is what caused the audience to perceive Ivan’s expression as being what it was.
In their ignorance, the people stated that Ivan was among the most amazing actors of his time in how he could emotionally express himself within each of these images.
Importance Of The Kuleshov Effect Within Perception
Perception is everything. This shows the power behind an idea, its presentation, and the potential behind Juxtaposition as an artist who seeks to create powerful artwork.
Within life it is easy for us to draw assumptions upon facial expressions or body language. How often do we get it right as compared to getting it wrong simply due to the expression and the environment?
Without clarification we would claim that what we saw and how we perceived it, was in fact the truth.
How little do we know the context of what may be in the other individuals mind, or what caused the expression, or if it was in fact directed at anything at all?
It is here where the Kuleshov Effect holds great implications for us within art. It is the perception that we create through our representation of subjects and objects.
It is with their use in the space of art that we can create perception. With the association of objects that can be unrelated we discover a new context or meaning can be found.
While this is not in totality equal to what Kuleshov created, it most certainly shows how effective two separate and potentially unrelated objects can react with each other in unintended ways.
Within our art we must give attention to the unwanted aspects, noise, or clutter we can place within our art. Does an object take away from its meaning, or add to it something that we do not intend?
Research On The Kuleshov Effect
Research was conducted in 1992 (Prince and Hensley), 2006 (Mobbs), and 2016 (Weijer, Barratt, Innes-Ker, and Redei). The findings were rather interesting, especially as science wished to analyze art.
When images were presented to people in many cases the findings were inconclusive as to their impact or the ability to stir emotion. The emotions these studies sought to target were happiness, sadness, neutral, fear, and desire.
The greatest success found across all the research data seemed to come from the neutral expression of the actor to the images related to it.
As a result the researches each seem to agree that it is the context surrounding the facial expression shown which has direct impact upon how it is perceived.
This was exactly the point behind the Kuleshov Effect. As Kuleshov was an artist within film his goal was to present a context in order to achieve a desired outcome of perception.
Less focus was placed upon creating emotion.
Lev Kuleshov Explained The Purpose Of The Effect
Kuleshov believed that a montage should be considered as an essential tool within cinema. He stated that these short clips would act as many pieces. Each short clip would be unrelated to one another.
The artist could then assemble these pieces to achieve a desired outcome. They could also disassemble, to then assemble them once again in order to achieve a different outcome.
Essentially each clip would act as an individual element. The artist would then create by assembling the desired elements, and through its presentation of created context, each fragment aided in creating perception.
In essence it is not the content of the short clip that is important but rather the assembly of them by way of juxtaposition. It is through juxtaposition that this context is created and the perception is inferred.
Impact Of Kuleshov Effect In Visual Arts
It is interesting to note that whether artists did so knowingly or not, many Monochromatic artists of the mid 20th century played upon this idea of the Kuleshov Effect.
The monochrome pieces they created would often be presented in series. With a slightly altered color pallet each work would require a viewer to study the art individually.
The goal of the artist was to require a viewer to perceive its meaning. Each painting could have its own meaning purely based upon this perception.
In turn each painting in the series could further alter this same perception.
Likewise the same could be said for many works of abstract art. Here too when these works are placed within a series a similar outcome can be achieved.
There is one critical difference though to be found in these comparisons. Kuleshov sought and knew how to arrive at a desired outcome of perception.
With the monochrome art, and that also of the abstract version, the perception could vary greatly from individual to individual. Yet there are ways for the artists to control the general direction of this outcome.
The use of many elements of art hold this key. Color played a major role in aiding the initial perception by its impact upon the senses.
Shapes also would help to achieve the initial course upon which an artist would wish for their viewer to take.
Ultimately though in these examples the artist has little control as to the final destination of where the viewers perception may arrive. If we are to find a way to control this perception in order to arrive at our intended message then more must be given.
Object And Subject Matter Use In Creating Perception
Kuleshov succeeded in his attempts through the use of two key elements. His greatest success came from the use of a facial expression which would apply to virtually any situation.
The expression was semi neutral in that it was not a truly blank face.
This allowed for a viewer infer a lot of meaning to this expression based upon what was shown next. The second element was an objective image.
This objective image allowed very little room for the viewer to infer any meaning at all.
With this the objective image would push the viewers perception into a direction that created an inferred meaning upon a subjective expression.
Through this, feelings within the viewer become less important. Rather the purpose is allowing the viewer to arrive at a context of meaning and intent of the subject or object.
This effect cannot be achieved with two clearly defined objective subjects or objects. Rather one must be subjectively neutral, or semi-neutral.
The objective will create the influence in order to achieved inferred perception upon the subjective object.
Where Can This Effect Be Used In Visual Art?
Aside from this being proven within film, is there other uses to be found within visual art for this effect? Indeed there is.
Representational painting or drawing is among the arts with the greatest potential for this effect to be achieved. All that is required to succeed in this is a combination of two objects or subjects where one is more neutral subjective and the other being objective.
Artwork that is also presented within a series can achieve this same effect. This becomes more apparent when a similar theme is used throughout the series to show how each is related to the next.
Within more subjective art such as abstract or the older Monochromatic art of the mid 1900’s, this becomes more difficult. An artist may be able to begin the trajectory of perception into a general direction yet its destination is outside of the artists control.
It could be argued that this same effect could be achieved with music. The playing of two pieces that are more dramatically woven together could create a new atmosphere with a desired outcome.
Modern photography is clearly another art where the Kuleshov Effect could be used with great impact. Editing software can allow the layering of multiple images on top of one another to create a new image for this purpose.
While the Kuleshov Effect will not fit into every art form, it can be used in many situations. What was presented by his films is actually not something which is new, but was presented in a new way through cinematography.
The Kuleshov Effect Is An Old Idea Brought To A Modern World
Creating perception is nothing new. Juxtaposition likewise is nothing new. How we use these principles with modern tools is where our new discovery takes place.
The principles behind the Kuleshov Effect would go on in time to have great impact within many propaganda films for many nations. Likewise it would aid in creating emotion in movie dramas for decades to come.
Film artists have known its impact now for many years. Yet the artists of history knew this concept as “Emphasis In Art”. This principle is about how the various pieces of a work of art comes together in order to achieve telling a story.
The Kuleshov Effect is the adaptation of these earlier principles to a new art within his time known as film making. This was a critical foundation for years to come.
Its evolution has seen many twists and turns through time. Alfred Hitchcock revisited these foundational ideas in an attempt to recreate Lev Kuleshov’s success.
As the film industry moved forward so did the methods by which this effect was used. Within the visual arts other technology has likewise created new paths for creating Emphasis In Art.
While these ideas are not new it is the technology by which we pursue them in order to achieve our end goal that changes. The artist is and has forever sought after capturing the attention, heart, and perception of their audience.
Within the near future we will be introduced to many new technologies. These include virtual reality, augmented reality, and what is being called the metaverse.
Here we will once again be revisiting the older principles of art for creating context, meaning, emotion, and definition. Its uses will impact art, creativity, marketing, and billion dollar industries.
It is through understanding the past principles, and the achievements of men like Lev Kuleshov, that we can in turn better create and impact our audiences in the future.