THE APPLICATION OF THE KULESHOV EFFECT TO PRODUCE EMOTIONAL MEANINGS FROM THE JUXTAPOSITIONS OF SHOTS IN THE FILM KOTAK AMAL

Abstract

Following the success of the October Revolution, a lack of film stock caused Soviet filmmakers to re-edit existing films or create films from a small amount of short film stocks (Nelmes, 2012). Along with other filmmakers, Russian filmmakers Lev Kuleshov and Vsevolod Pudovkin carried out a short experiment on montage, from which a film editing technique called the Kuleshov effect was created. The Kuleshov effect is a film editing technique that generates emotional meanings from the interaction of sequential shots, where reactions are juxtaposed against what they are reacting to. The same shot juxtaposed with different following shots can change the audience’s interpretation of human emotions in the shot (Crittenden, 2003; Nelmes, 2012; Solutions et al., 2013). This has been proven by Kuleshov and Pudovkin’s short film experiment in the 1920s, where they found “emotional meanings” created not from the actor’s, Mosjukhin’s performance, but from the juxtapositions of shots (Solutions, et al., 2013). In this research, I will apply the Kuleshov Effect to find out if juxtapositions of shots in the film Kotak Amal can influence the audience’s interpretation of human emotions in the shot. The result of this research will prove the influence of the Kuleshov Effect towards emotional meanings interpreted by the audience.