This is the Vocab of the Day: the Kuleshov Effect. lol.

I was reading this article from soompi on Lee JoonGi’s acting in “Flower of Evil” when that term popped up in my head. I’ll quote the text so you don’t have to go to soompi, and highlight the two segments that I found interesting.

Lee Joon Gi Earns Praise For His Chilling Acting In “Flower Of Evil”

“Flower of Evil” is a suspenseful new thriller starring Lee Joon Gi as Baek Hee Sung, a man who hides his past and pretends to love his wife, Cha Ji Won (played by Moon Chae Won). When detective Cha Ji Won begins to suspect that her husband may be a serial killer, the couple is ultimately forced to confront a dark truth they never wanted to face.

Just three weeks into the drama’s run, viewers and critics alike are already heaping praise on star Lee Joon Gi for his masterful portrayal of the calculating Baek Hee Sung. Because the character suffers from antisocial personality disorder and is unable to feel emotions the way other humans do, there are multiple scenes in which he purposely attempts to fake emotions that he is incapable of feeling—and Lee Joon Gi pulls them off with ease. Viewers have applauded him for convincingly depicting Baek Hee Sung’s many layers with his subtle acting, even noting the impressive way he controls his facial muscles to bring the complex character to life. </span>

Spoiler

Lee Joon Gi has also been giving viewers goosebumps with his ability to go from warm, loving husband to cold, ruthless criminal in the blink of an eye. Early on in the drama, viewers learn that Baek Hee Sung is actually a man named Do Hyun Soo who has adopted a false identity, and the actor nimbly switches back and forth between the character’s two personas.

In newly released behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of the drama, it’s easy to tell which is which just from the look in Lee Joon Gi’s eyes.

source: soompi.com/flowerofevil

These are the promotional stills mentioned in the soompi article.

Now, let’s be honest now. Do you see any difference in his eyes? Can you tell me which one has the malevolent stare? the bitter gaze? the contemptuous eye? the vengeful glare? the thoughtful scowl? the baleful glance? the dead-fish look?

If you can tell the expressions apart, good for you! Because I can’t. He looks the same in all of them. He’s just staring into space.

Heck! Even Bruno Mars can do it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that Lee JoonGi is talentless because he’s certainly a gifted actor. What I’m saying is that without context, his facial expression conveys nothing.

And this is where the “Kuleshov Effect” comes in.

Lev Kuleshov was a Russian director. Died in the 1970s, if I remember correctly. He made a short film using an actor with a blank face, and three unrelated images. He was trying to prove that viewers’ perception of an actor’s emotions changed, depending on the images shown either BEFORE or AFTER the close-up of the face.

You can watch it here later.

 

In the first test, a bowl of soup on a table was shown, then the actor’s face.

In the second test, a dead girl in a coffin was shown, then the same actor’s face.

In the third test, a woman lying on a divan was shown, then the actor’s face.

Although the actor’s expression was unvaried in all three clips, the viewers “read” different emotions on the actor’s face each time.

With the bowl of soup, the actor looked like he was thinking “That looks like momma’s soup.” He seemed hungry.

With the dead child, the actor seemed to be thinking, “Alas! How then such an abrupt end to a young life!” He appeared sad.

With the alluring lady, the actor  to think, “You wench!” He seemed lecherous.

In short, the Kuleshov Effect is a experiment to prove that a series of images influence and color how a viewer perceives a single frame. In the example of the expressionless actor, the viewers had different interpretations of his emotion depending on the image shown before the close-up of the actor.

And that’s my point here. If we’re going to be critics of an actor’s performance, then we can’t go overboard. That’s what fangirls/boys do. All we can honestly say from those behind-the-scenes pics of Lee JoonGi is that his expression didn’t differ much from one pic to another.

In my opinion, that’s what we were meant to see in those BTS pictures. We were supposed to see the character Hyungsoo with the same expression — no matter if he’s the one being tortured or the one torturing another person — because he’s a psychopath. He’s “emotionless. expressionless. indifferent. lack of sympathy and guilt. suspected schizoid personality disorder” – just like in the police report.

It’s good to maintain this ambivalence towards Hyungsoo. As of Episode 6, we don’t know yet what crimes he committed in the past, and what crimes he’ll be capable of in the future. We only know that if the real murderer is still alive, then Hyungsoo will certainly be forced to protect JW and EunHa. I expect he CAN kill in cold blood, but will he?

That’s how I view the cloud scene with Eunha and HS in Episode 6.

Eunha: Look at that cloud, Daddy. It looks like an egg tart.
HS: That’s interesting. It really looks like Mommy’s face.
Eunha: No. It looks like an egg tart.
HS: Really?

Going by the “Kuleshov Effect,” it’s easy to interpret the clouds as “nothing.”  It can look like an egg tart, JW’s face or unicorn.

But Eunha sees them and associates them with an “egg tart” probably because she’s angling for her favorite after-school snack. Meanwhile, HS thinks of JW probably because she’s his favorite person. Either way, when a viewer watches this whole father-and-daughter moment, it seems like a carefree afternoon.

However, when we connect this moment to what happened PRIOR to this scene, i.e., HS noticing that his watch was missing after tackling JW in the greenhouse,

plus MJ receiving the tape recording of the murderer,

and what happens AFTER this scene, i.e., JW receiving Do HS’ belongings,

then we get the sense then that the clouds aren’t just “nothing” at all. The clouds in the sky forecast a rainy day ahead, and the stage is already set for our couple to face the storm.