The Kuleshov Effect

Sometimes, the simplest change to your video edit can create an entirely different feeling in your audience. For example, a forest accompanied by light, melodic harp music might suggest elements of enchantment and adventure. But with a low, bass-heavy drone, the same forest may feel ominous, warning the character to stay away.

Likewise, the same goes for color. A warm establishing shot of the city might suggest happiness and romance. However, the same establishing shot paired with a cold, cool filter could evoke an impression of misery or mystery among these streets.

Image via Unsplash

Yet, no mental phenomenon can be as impactful as the Kuleshov Effect.

What is the Kuleshov Effect?

The Kuleshov Effect is named after its pioneer, Lev Kuleshov. Born in 1899 in Tambov (Russian Empire), Kuleshov became a classically trained artist and, most importantly, a key figure in shaping modern filmmaking and film theory.

His most famous contribution to cinema challenged the way audiences interpret meaning through editing techniques.

At its core, the Kuleshov Effect suggests that a filmmaker can influence emotional significance by offering context from the preceding images. In other words, filmmakers can alter the audience's perception of an emotional moment based on its surrounding cuts.

This was famously demonstrated in a short vignette, in which the same shot of a character was used in three different sequences, each paired with a different preceding image. 

Example 1 - A bowl of soup

We have a male character with a neutral expression looking off into the distance just over the camera. The following cut is of a bowl of soup. Within this sequence, we might infer that the character is hungry and that this soup resembles a meal he has been waiting for.

While the expression on the man’s face is somewhat neutral, the pairing with the shot of the soup influences us to believe he’s hungry. The preceding image gives context for the emotional state.

Example 2 - Death of a child

In the second example, while the same clip of the man is used again, the soup shot is different. This time, we see a young girl lying in a coffin. The idea that the man is hungry and longs for the soup is completely removed. Instead, his expression now suggests sadness and grief, as if he is looking at his fallen daughter and is overcome with sorrow.

Example 3 - Lust

The third sequence shows a beautiful woman lying on a couch. Now, the man is neither hungry nor upset. Instead, his expression suggests desire. Perhaps he is looking at his wife, a close friend he admires, or someone he longs for but cannot have. 

You can see these clips in action here:

From this series of sequences, Kuleshov learned that you can directly influence the audience's emotions depending on the surrounding cuts. Every single emotion depicted and evoked from these sequences happened without any additional movement, facial expression, or acting from the actor. It all comes from the cut itself.

Now, this isn’t just an editing trick; it's a pillar of film theory. And while it may seem like obvious information in 2025, in the 1910s and 1920s, before the golden age of Hollywood and Soviet cinema, this was a breakthrough.

Understanding how the Kuleshov Effect works can make you a stronger film editor, helping you shape audience perception.

Putting the Kuleshov Effect into practice

So, what's the takeaway from this?

Simply, no shots in a film are meaningless. You should always ensure that you capture and edit the right sequence of shots, as doing so can elevate your project to the next level.

Image via Unsplash 

Some filmmakers, such as Terrence Malick, capture anything and everything on set and find the film’s meaning in the edit. Many sequences and scenes are left on the cutting room floor once deemed unworthy.

Director Ridley Scott tends to have a large shooting ratio (the amount of footage shot versus the final runtime). “The Martian,” for example, had a 104:1 shooting ratio, resulting in 250 hours of raw footage for a 144-minute film.

Conversely, other filmmakers, like Alfred Hitchcock, capture everything meticulously, filming only what they intend to use. Hitchcock was famously known for having an incredibly low shooting ratio of 3:1 and infamously known for stopping studios from editing material out; because there wasn’t anything to edit!

The Kuleshov Effect teaches us the same principles. We should prepare, analyze, and construct the next sequence within the edit to evoke the proper reaction from the audience. Sometimes “editing feels like trimming out the bad parts. But what are the bad parts?” The Kuleshov Effect helps answer that question. 

The Kuleshov Effect on a larger scale

While the Kuleshov Effect is primarily based on the idea that viewers will react to a sequence depending on the surrounding shots, the broader concept of editing’s power extends beyond emotions. Alfred Hitchcock demonstrated this in a famous interview. 

In 1970, the American Film Institute asked Hitchcock how he leveraged suspense to immerse audiences in his stories. He responded with this explanation:

We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, 'Boom!' There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but before this surprise, it has seen an ordinary scene of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table, and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. 

The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock, and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: 'You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!'

This idea of manipulating audience interpretation is not limited to emotional responses. It equally extends to how tension and suspense are built through editing. In this instance, Hitchcock’s explanation of suspense does not explicitly reference the Kuleshov Effect, but it still relies on the same fundamental idea: the meaning of a scene is shaped by what the audience knows and how information is revealed.

Hitchcock was famous for using this technique throughout his career. More notably, "Rear Window" masterfully employed the Kuleshov Effect to heighten tension. Entire sequences are cut between Jimmy Stewart’s character and glimpses of life beyond his apartment window, shaping the audience’s emotions through his perspective.

After production, he remarked that the final portrayal of his character felt different from what he had originally delivered on set, a testament to how much meaning can be shaped in the edit.

Testing the Kuleshov Effect

So, now we know what the Kuleshov Effect is and how to use it. But what’s the best way to implement it in your edits to test out different reactions? 

If you create a timeline with a single video track and place the three comparable edits next to each other, it might start to get a little messy. It can also unnecessarily extend your timeline.

Instead, a more efficient approach is to keep your reactionary shots in place on your primary video track. Then, create two additional video tracks and position the alternative media clips on them. This allows you to compare how different cuts influence the emotional response easily. You can then disable each clip to assess its impact.

Final words 

If you're new to filmmaking, you might not be overly familiar with directors like Alfred Hitchcock or techniques such as the Kuleshov Effect — until now. Though Hitchcock passed over 40 years ago with films roaring through the 1950s and 1960s, he became rightfully known as the Master of Suspense throughout his career — and still.

Watching his films, especially considering the limited technology at the time, is like attending a film school in itself. We highly recommend studying his work and more techniques like the Kuleshov Effect to keep elevating your craft.