The kuleshov effect

The Kuleshov effect is a film editing (montage) effect demonstrated by Soviet (Russian) filmmaker Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s. It is a mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation. It influences every film maker and their film.

Lev Kuleshov and experiment (1899-1970) 

During the period in which film was relatively new, Kuleshov asked the question: what made cinema a distinct art, separate from photography, literature or theatre? He discovered that art was 2 things: the material itself and the way in which it was organised. Kuleshov found that the organization of individual shots, also known as montage, is what makes film stand apart.

In 1921, Kuleshov set up a series of cinematic demonstrations which gave the phenomenon its name. In these experiments, he projected the face of a well-known actor, then cut to a plate of soup, he then showed another shot of the same actor, then a girl in a coffin, the final sequence was the actor’s face, then an attractive young woman. Audiences responded that the actor seemed in the first sequence to be hungry, in the second, quite mournful and finally seemed to exude lust. In reality, all three shots of the actor were the exact same, his face was interpreted differently based on what it was put next to in the edit. Additionally, even though there was no establishing shot of the actor together with objects from the other shots, they seemed to the audience to be in close proximity to one another. Through the ordering of the shots, two separate places seemed to be one whole continuous location to the audience.

This was a huge moment for cinema becuase kuleshov discovered that manipulating space and time was possible through editing. Kulshov declared montage to be the central principle that defines film as it's own art. 

For filmakers

Understanding the Kuleshov Effect allows editors to better control the tone and meaning found in their films. Through the choices in how shots are organized and sequenced, filmmakers can create new meaning by juxtaposing unrelated images. With the illusion of condensing space, we are able to create new worlds, connecting places that were previously separate. Thus, the Kuleshov Effect is a huge part of the magic that is film. 

Timeline: Alternative music/rock

Alternative rock music is thought to have begun in the late 1970's and early 1980's (Primarily in the uk).Reaching a commercial and critical peak in the 1990s. 



-1970's

Alternative bands started forming in the 70's. These bands  played mainly rock music but brought elements of punk, reggae and grunge into theire music- hence creating Alternative rock.  Bands started playing in small clubs/bars, they were either signed by a small record label or none at all. By the end of this decade many bands did not conform to any other genre and were anti-mainstream . Often singing about deep/darker topics including drug or alcohol abuse, depression, suicide ect... Some other bands would also be singing about hope 

-1975
-Formation of Blondie, Sex pistols, Talking heads
-1976
- Formation of  The cure 
-1980's 
There was no coverage on alternative music during the later 1980s but MTV started a new show called '120 Minutes' where they introduced music by bands such as Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam.
-1985
-Radioheads form
-1986
-MTV 120 minutes first aired
-1987
-Nirvana formed
-1990's
The 90's saw the rise of alternative music
-1991
-Nirvana released their album " Nevermind"soared into populaity.  Alot of people recognised the genre and began listening to alternative and grunge music. 
-American music festival 'Lollapalooza' took place for the first time, featured bands such as Butthole surfers, Nine inch nails and Janes addition. This was a big change to the genre as alternative bands moved from playing at small venues to big time concerts and gained more commercial attention. 
-1996
-Birth of indie music, Bands such as Modest Mouse, The Kooks and The Libertines introduced a new genre of alternative music which had a much softer sound than alternative rock. 
-2000's
In the early start of the 21st century many original alternative bands such as Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana have broken up and they ended up being replaced by modern Indie bands. The lyrics of songs were based on happiness and humour now. This changed the genre as while it was anti-mainstream before, it is now one of the most mainstream genres out there.

Timeline: Mainstream music

Mainstream music is applied to the majority and is currently popular with most people. The majority of artists follow this genre.

Birth of mainstream music in the 50's 
-1950's ,pop music origanated from Britain,  the American "rock'n'roll influenced pop culture 
-1954
Elvis Presley records 'That's All Right Mama' at Sun Studios, Memphis

-1955
Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' is released

-1960's, There was a divide between 'progressive' pop and mass/chart pop 

-The miracles, 'Shop Around' is released

- More African American artists are introduced 

- Pop Music is more upbeat

-1964
-The Beatles (already the most popular pop group in Europe) take America. "I 

wanna hold your hand" was one of the biggest songs at the time. 

-The Jackson 5 is formed 

- 1965 

-LSD hits the streets

-Bob Dylan releases 'Like a Rolling Stone'

-mid-1960's, Record labels began investing in artists, giving them freedom to experiment, and limited control over their content.

-1966The Beatles record 'Tomorrow Never Knows'

Brian Wilson makes Pet Sounds

1969 
Jimi Hendrix Plays 'The Star Spangled Banner' at the Woodstock Festival

-1970's, Urban African Americans began performing spoken lyrics ( now known as hip hop) 

-Birth of electronic dance music 

-1970

Black Sabbath release their first album

-1971 
-Marvin Gaye: What's Going On?

-King Tubby and Lee Perry create the template for modern dance music (Dub was born and found its most innovative producer in Lee Perry, Modern dance music as we know it begins here) 

-1972
David Bowie creates Ziggy Stardust

-1975 
Bob Marley & the Wailers: 'No Woman, No Cry' released

-1977 
-Saturday Night Fever goes on general release

-Bee gee's (one of the most popular pop music groups by the mid-70's) release " How deep is your love"

-1980's,  Disco fell out of fashion, in the late 1980s, glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music in the United States and worldwide. The most influential artists of this decade were: michael jackson, cyndi lauper, Madonna, Prince, David bowie ,Whitney houston, George michael and more. The overall decade created a series of classics and shaped how mainstream music would be in the future.

-1981
The launch of MTV, The pivotal moment when the pop video became as important as the pop single. The first television channel devoted totally to music, MTV has grown into a global brand as all-pervasive as Coca-Cola or Nike

-1982
-Michael Jackson: Thriller released, The biggest-selling pop record of all time, Thriller made Michael Jackson a global icon, then only 25.

-1985

-Madonnna's 'Material Girl' is released

The single that propelled Madonna beyond the mainstream and made her the most successful pop brand of modern times.

-1987

Prince's 'Sign 'O' the Times'

-1990's, saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, in addition with a larger variety of new music genre/style (e.g. Grunge). Hip-hop and rap grew highly successful. Artists/Groups of that decade: Mariah carey, Whitney houston, Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Britney spears, Backstreet boys and more. 

-1992 
-Nirvana: 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', The single that catapulted Nirvana into the mainstream. A heady mix of metal and punk

-1997

-The spice girls 'wannabe' released 

-1998

-Britney spears "Hit me baby one more time" released

-2000s/Present day approching the late 2000's dubstep becomes mainstream. Following the 90's Rap, hip-hop and R'n'B continued to dominate the music industry in the early 2000's. Artists of the decades would be: Eminem 

How does the camerawork construct the representation of gender?

Ariana grande-focus 

The first shot of the music video draws back from ariana grandes midriff (where she poses at a side angle), already, without the music video even begining the shot presents her as a "sexy" persona. When the video does start the audeince is presented with a series of flashes, showing Grande in seductive poses and the different angles of her - e.g. extreme close ups of her lips, eyes,legs. By doing this, we can argue that the camerawork objectifies her body, admiring her features at different angles and frames.These extreme close ups are fairly typical in a music video by a female artist; another example could be Christina aguilera -Dirrty. Whereas in Male Pop music videos, I've noticed that these "seductive" extreme close ups are more rare.This perhaps backs up Mulvey's male gaze theory, where the camera takes on the perspective of a hetrosexual man.

Throughout the video, there are several variations of camera framing -such as long shots ,zooming in and away from the singer (again whist she is in sexually suggesting poses). This makes the audience not only view her intimate features but view her figure from a distance. Alternatively, the high contrast lighting also emphasises her physicque and curves, so the audience can focus more on her "shape". With this fact alone, it already backs up the male gaze theory. As the audience you are presented with a music video by a female artist designed to gratify partiularly hetrosexual male viewers. As for other girls or women, they may naturally find themself comparing their own physical attributes to the singer, possibly lowering their self confidence or become influenced and aspire to be just like the singer. Either way, the way in which woman are potrayed in this video is not particularly empowering or influential in good terms, but seductive in fashion -conveying the wrong messages.

Furthermore, the outfits in which Grande is wearing alongside her backup dancers can be described as "skimpy"as they are tight, short and bare a quite alot of skin. At one point in the music video, bare long legs are seem pointing from the wall...this therefore reinforces the statement that the female body is made to be admired, or as an object for pleasure.


Overall, i'd say that although this music video is not the most explicit content representing woman, it's also not the prime example of  how woman should be perceived in society. From the costume, sultry poses, extreme close ups, and long/mid shots, the representation of woman in this video carries a sexy and flirtatious vibe. This can be interpreted positively or negatively; positive in the way that a woman should be comfortable to show her skin and embrace confidence, but negative as it connotes wrong or sexual inferences to the audience.

Mulvey: Male gaze theory

The concept of Gaze is the concept of how an audience views the people presented.
It can be looked at in 3 ways:

• How men look at women
• How women look at other women 
• How woemn look at themselves 

Laura mulvey created the male gaze theory in 1975. It's the idea that film audiences have to view characters in the perspective of a hetrosexual man. 

Features:

 

The camera lingers on the curves of a female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a mans reaction to these events. 

Regulates women to the status of objects (objectification of women), women is seen as less of a human but rather, a pleasure object to admire. 

Uses of male gaze in everyday life:

 Some theorists also have noted the sexualizing of the female body even in situations where female sexiness isn't relevant to the product being advertised ( e.g perfume adverts)  

MES in music videos comaprison

How does MES create genre? :Selena gomoz (Bad liar) and Bee gees (How deep is our love?)

Firstly with the "Bad liar" music genre is poprock and "How deep is your love" is an incorporation of pop and R'&'B. So I'll be exploring how the MES in the two music videos creates similarities and differences in the genres.

Setting:
For the bad liar video, the setting constantly changes, moving for the hills to an american high school and finally to a family home ( *the props/ costume indecate that the storyline of the m/v is set in the 1970's). Contrastingly, although the how deep is your love video was produced and released in 1977, the setting of the video could not be anymore different than bad liar. It's uncertain exactly where the bee gee's hit was filmed but it appears to be a darkened studio/hall with the minimal props, only simple coloured lights in the video ( this could act as the whole romantic R&B aesthetic for the  genre).

Lighting:
The lighting in both videos are not overly extreme and carry a warm sense to the tone of m/v. Bad liar in particular,has a lighting where it makes the video seem almost antique (perhaps an effort to make the video seem in the styleof the 70's?).Though warm in tone, the lighting is generally quite bright. Nonetheless, the lighting in the Bee gees video carry a subtle hint of high contrast lighting, which in comparison to the bad liar video is "more romantic"- emphasising the R&B genre.

Costume:
In Bad liar, the outfits in which the characters and people around wear are visablly inspired by the 1970's era. From the pattern of their shirts, to the flared jeans, suits, big hair, makeup and overall fashion presented in the video are all influenced by the 70's. To include the 1970's theme in her (selena gomez) video is to possibly make the pop m/v more interesting as a pose to a video with everyday clothing. By doing this, it may also bring back 70's fashion trends that have since became fogotten - changing pop culture.
On the other hand, how deep is your love was made in the 70's, and has kept the style of the video in it's era (no theme). Therefore the fashion is similar to the bad liar video ( e.g patterned shirts, big hair). This would be fairly typical of the pop music at that time, promoting and setting fashion trends - input to pop culture.

Props:
In the Bee gees hit, it's safe to say that not many props are used, perhaps not at all! (only the coloured lights surrounding the room). Emphasising the simplicity of the song, where the video is not overdone and it fits perfectly with the Pop/ R&B song. Bad liar is perhaps the oppersite, it includes props to the very slightest detail. Presented in the m/v there's older fashioned cars, bikes,glasses, furniture, posters...ect.

In conclusion, the m/v of "How deep is your love" by the bee gees is a much softer and slower song compared to "Bad liar" by selena gomez. Both music videos reflect the style and attitude of the song: the bright lighting, costume and pop culture of bad liar indicates that the song is a pop song and possibly upbeat ; how deep is your love has a darker lighting, simple setting and with little to no props indicates that the song is slow  (R&B).

Camera work terminology

Camera work terminology 

Birdseye view-A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird

High angle - a cinematic technique where the camera looks down on the subject from a high angle and the point of focus often gets "swallowed up." High-angle shots can make the subject seem vulnerable or powerless when applied with the correct mood, setting, and effects.

Low angle - a shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. Sometimes, it is even directly below the subject's feet. Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful.

Extreme close up -The shot is so tight that only a detail of the subject, such as someone's eyes, can be seen.

Establishing shot- usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot.

Point of view - short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). 

Camera tilt- Tilting is a cinematographic technique in which the camera stays in a fixed position but rotates up/down in a vertical plane. Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to someone raising or lowering their head to look up or down.

Panning-Panning is a photographic technique that combines a slow shutter speed with camera motion to create a sense of speed around a moving object. It is a way to keep your subject in focus while blurring your background. Panning is typically done on a subject moving horizontally, such as a moving car, or a running dog.

Tracking- A tracking shot is any shot where the camera moves alongside the object(s) it is recording. In cinematography, the term refers to a shot in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly that is then placed on rails – like a railroad track. The camera is then pushed along the track while the image is being filmed.

close up - a photograph or film image taken at close range and showing the subject on a large scale.