Prelim 3 : Kuleshov Effect

The Kuleshov effect is the theory that two shots together have a greater impact than one shot alone. It enables viewers to infer meaning from the interaction of two consecutive pictures. Since images are single shots taken separately, Kuleshov through that the interaction of shots in film making was what set it apart from photography and allowed viewers to draw the same meaning. 

        

Even if a scene might have impeccable lighting and acting skills from the actor, the clip may still fail to effectively convey emotion if the shots are not placed in the right order. 

Editing involves carefully choosing the shots and perspectives that will influence how the audience perceives the story rather than just assembling shots to convey one. The Kuleshov effect also enables actors (characters) to display their reactions and emotions towards each piece of dialogue which can help raise tension within a scene.

An audience's perception of a film's action and message can be greatly influenced by something as basic as a reaction shot or close-up.

Firstly, I recorded a clip of myself using a Tripod to hold the camera up, a clock ticking, a classroom with students and a restroom entrance. I shared these videos to my laptop and imported them onto Premier Pro. Secondly, I placed the clip of me at the beginning and organised the rest into an order which fit to create the Kulshov Effect. I used the ' Mute Track' button to remove the audio from the clips recorded. Using the razor tool I trimmed down the back-to-back shots to make them all the same length in time (2.3s each). 

During this task, I learnt how effective the Kulshov effect is and how it can lead the audience to        decode their own meaning and perception of emotion by using back to back shots rather than only using a single shot on its own. 

In the future, I could use more significant objects or settings to match my facial expressions to actually suggest a meaning that is encoded for the audience. To create this I could've also pulled a different facial expression such as disgust or sadness.