Low level – 6a. Play it like Kulechov

Category: Editing

Objectives:

To understand the central issue of editing: a shot only makes sense to the audience in relation to the shot that follows or precedes it.

Short Description:

This activity allows, by filming a few shots, to understand the central issue posed by editing: a shot only takes on meaning for the audience in relation to the shot that follows or precedes it.

Module:

Module 2 > chapiter 3 > section 5

Download the activity

Duration

30 minutes

Number of participants

up to 15

A camera and tripod
a computer with simple editing software (check CapCut and Kinemaster, which are freeware)

Description step by step

The group must first shoot four still shots without sound, each 5 seconds long:
1. A pastry or sweet, placed on a table
2. A frame with someone’s picture
3. A half-open door to a dark room
4. A human face with a neutral expression

Chain them
shot 1 with shot 4
shot 2 with shot 4
shot 3 with shot 4

Screen the result to the group.
How does the group understand shot 4 in relation to the shot before?
What are the feelings of the person when confronted with these three different things?

How does the group understand shot 4 in relation to the shot before?
What are the feelings of the person when confronted with these three different things?

Tips for the trainer

Koulechov was a Soviet filmmaker in the 1920s. He created a laboratory for cinematic experimentation. With his famous “Koulechov effect”, he wanted to assert the power of editing: it is by sequentially arranging shots that we give them meaning.

Watch Alfred Hitchcock explaining the effect.

This activity can also be carried out with printed photos, which the participants combine two by two to give them a new meaning.

Module 3.2 : Parcourt route

Low level – 6a. Play it like Kulechov

Objectives:

Description step by step

Tips for the trainer

Nous utilisons des cookies