Development and Principles of Editing

Kuleshov is a pioneer of editing who conducted a short film in early 1920, which used a variety of shots of a person with a still face and then other images, such as soup. This was known as juxtapose which is putting two contrasting images, together to show they had a connection. What made Kuleshov technique different was that the film or footage, had to have a meaning and a purpose to it, which the audience came up with. He did this by putting two images together to create a new meaning. For example he had an image of soup and then the 'reaction' of a man, who had a still face. The audience then said that the man was hungry and wanted to eat the soup. Kuleshov then used the same shot of the man and used a different image which was a dead child in a coffin. The audience said that the man showed that he was sad about the child in the coffin. This showed that by putting the shots in a different way, it can create emotions and associations. The audience then attached different meanings and emotions from the man, depending on what he was looking at, even though he pulled the same face. This effect was important on the development of editing as it spurred on other people's work. This effect can be used by the effect of transitions. Kuleshov is still important to film maker now, his editing techniques inspire other film makers, which they use and include in their own work. Kuleshov's techniques created a mystery within his films, the expressions and the meanings could be interpreted by the audience, giving them some control. Kuleshov has inspired other film makers, to give meaning to their films, and make the audience feel something. Each technique makes the audience feel a certain way, for example when they watch a scene which has motivated editing in it, the audience are lead to believe that the scenes link in some way, when they may not.