Kuleshov Effect
A film editing (montage) effect by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation.
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Origin
Demonstrated by Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov in experiments at the Moscow Film School in the late 1910s–1920s. Kuleshov intercut the same expressionless shot of actor Ivan Mosjoukine with images of soup, a girl in a coffin, and a reclining woman; audiences read hunger, grief, and desire into the identical face. The experiment became a foundation of Soviet montage theory.
Updated February 22, 2026