Exploring the Kuleshov Effect through meme edits
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ok so not to totally ruin the joke but has anyone noticed how meme edits like this (& the ones all over Tik Tok) are kindof the perfect expression of Soviet montage theory
So editing theory is all based on the Kuleshov effect - that phenomenon from the early 1910s that states that juxtaposed images form new meanings in the head of the viewer when played in sequence
Eisenstein further developed the sequential juxtaposition of shots over time into montage theory which states… “the editing of shots rather than the content of the shot alone constitutes the force of a film.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_montage_theory)
But anyways, with this video, put the shots in the order they were taken and you’ve just got a dude banging on his keyboard and then throwing random crap on his desk
But then place them in the right order and cut them at the right moment and it’s just like “yeah of course that cat just fell out of his keyboard”
But I find this so interesting because these perfect examples of editing are all over the internet now from kids with absolutely no formal background in film theory.
And I can’t help but think the built-in constraints of editing in apps like Tik Tok or Instagram are forcing users to think more creatively than, say, all of us who played with Windows Movie Maker/iMove/Sony Vegas growing up who got more of a kick out of slick transitions
When all you can do is cut from one image to another, you have to think about the simplest way to trick a viewer’s mind into believing your story
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