The Kuleshov Effect

Eisenstein was not the only theorist in the Soviet montage movement, Lev Kuleshov developed his theory of editing before Eisenstein, who was temporary a student of Kuleshov. Kuleshovs theories are closely related to that of Eisenstein in the sense that they both believed that the essence of cinema is a juxtaposition of editorial decisions, to support his theories Kuleshov developed an experiment known as the Kuleshov Experiment. The experiment consisted of shots of an actor intercut with shots of a bowl of soup, a seductively dressed woman and a deceased child, the shots were intercut to create the illusion that the actor was looking at these objects. The film was screened before an audience who believed the actors facial expression changes throughout the sequence, depending on what the actor was seeing. However the actors expression doesnt change and is in fact the same shot repeated. Kuleshov designed this experiment to indicate the importance of cinema editing and the effects it can have on an audience.