If you looked in any introductory film text, I'm sure you'd come across an account of Lev Kuleshov's experiment with montage:
Shots of the face of a matinee idol alternated with shots of a plate of soup, a girl, a coffin. The audience believed that the expression on his face was different each time he appeared, depending on whether he was "looking at" the plate of soup, the girl, or the coffin, showing an expression of hunger, desire, or grief, respectively. Actually, the footage of him was identical, and rather expressionless, every time it appeared.
Thus, the combination, not the content, of images is what's important.
Here's how it works in real life if you're the cinetrix. This morning I read that The Butcher Boy finally makes its dvd debut on Tuesday. Huzzah. It was one of the video boy's favorite films, and one I'd missed and despaired of ever seeing. Yet it's also another thing I can't talk about with him--outside of the occasional cameos he makes in my dreams--because he's dead.
And on the facing page? Ken Tucker pens a Valentine's Day appreciation of a mutual favorite, His Girl Friday. Rob loved Rosalind Russell so much that once when he was low I gave him an "autographed" photo of her urging him to keep his chin up.
Hunger, desire, or grief. The Kuleshov effect sounds so simple once it's explained. For me, the layout landed a one-two punch. For the rest of you lucky suckers, though, I've just described pages 64-65 of the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.
