Playing the Cinema Neurogame: Neuroscientific Perspectives on Film Research
Ewelina Twardoch-Raś
etwardoch@o2.plJagiellonian University (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2497-8463
Abstract
The aim of the article is to present neuroscientific perspectives on the study of film. First, the foundations for the development of this type of empirical and conceptual research are presented: the cognitive theory of film, the concept of embodied cognition, and the models of cinema that have been proposed in this area (embodied cinema and enactive cinema), as well as neuroaesthetics. Then, referring to the findings of Vittorio Gallese and Miguel Guerra, the author indicates three main perspectives for the development of neuroscientific research on cinema: 1) partial reinterpretation of the theory and history of cinema through the prism of new research tools, 2) empirical research on film techniques and strategies, 3) development of new technological forms implemented in the film industry. The article presents also selected experiments in the field of film neuroresearch, focusing on those dealing with general issues – including the pioneering experiment of Uri Hasson’s research group and a study on identification with film characters based on the Game of Thrones series (HBO, 2011-2019). The author also refers to research on film montage, conducted mainly by Javier Sanz-Aznar’s group, and presents it from a critical perspective, reflecting on the potential of empirical research on film, taking into account the problem of neurorealism. In the last part of the article, she presents the assumptions of neurofilmology as presented by Adriano D’Aloia and Ruggero Eugeni and the critical approach to the research perspective proposed by Maria Poulaki. The author of the article supplements this reflection with her own conclusions regarding potential directions of development of cinema neuroresearch.
Keywords:
neurocinematics, neurofilmology, film neuroaesthetics, biometrics, embodied cognition, neurorealismReferences
D’Aloia, A. (2021). Neurofilmology of the Moving Image: Gravity and Vertigo in Contemporary Cinema. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1z3hk91
Google Scholar
D’Aloia, A., Eugeni, R. (2014). Neurofilmology: An Introduction. Cinéma and Cie: International Film Studies Journal, XIV (22-23), ss. 9-26.
Google Scholar
Andreu-Sánchez, C., Martín-Pascual, M.-A. (2021). Perception of Cuts in Different Editing Styles. Profesional de la información, 30 (2), ss. 2-8. https://doi.org/10.3145/ epi.2021.mar.06
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2021.mar.06
Google Scholar
Barad, K., (2007). Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham – London: Duke University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv12101zq
Google Scholar
Broom, T. W., Chavez, R. S., Wagner, D. D. (2021). Becoming the King in the North: Identification with Fictional Characters Is Associated with Greater Self-Other Neural Overlap. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 16 (6), ss. 541-551. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsab021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsab021
Google Scholar
Casini, S. (2017). Beyond the Neuro-Realism Fallacy: From John R. Mallard’s Hand-painted MRI Image of a Mouse to BioArt Scenarios. Nuncius, 32. https://aura.abdn.ac.uk/handle/2164/12282?show=full
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18253911-03202005
Google Scholar
Gallese, V., Guerra, M. (2012). Embodying Movies: Embodied Simulation and Film Studies. Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image, 3, ss. 183-210.
Google Scholar
Gallese, V., Guerra, M. (2020). The Empathic Screen: Cinema and Neuroscience (tłum. F. Anderson). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198793533.001.0001
Google Scholar
Gallese, V., Guerra, M. (2022). The Neuroscience of Film. Projections, 16 (1), ss. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3167/proj.2022.160101
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/proj.2022.160101
Google Scholar
Hasson, U. i in. (2008). Enhanced Intersubject Correlations During Movie Viewing Correlate with Successful Episodic Encoding. Neuron, 57 (3), ss. 452-462.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2007.12.009
Google Scholar
Hasson, U. i in. (2008). Neurocinematics: The Neuroscience of Film. Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind, 2 (1), ss. 1-26. https://doi.org/0.3167/proj.2008.020102
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/proj.2008.020102
Google Scholar
Hasson, U. i in. (2009). Shared and Idiosyncratic Cortical Activation Patterns in Autism Revealed under Continuous Real-Life Viewing Conditions. Autism Research, 4, ss. 220-231. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.89
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.89
Google Scholar
Heimann, K. i in. (2016). Cuts in Action: A High‐Density EEG Study Investigating the Neural Correlates of Different Editing Techniques in Film. Cognitive Science, 41 (6), ss. 1555-1588. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12439
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12439
Google Scholar
Jääskeläinen, I. P. i in. (2021). Movies and Narratives as Naturalistic Stimuli in Neuroimaging. Neuroimage, 1 (224). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117445
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117445
Google Scholar
Parisi, L. (2017). Reprogramming Decisionism. E-flux.com. https://www.e-flux.com/ journal/85/155472/reprogramming-decisionism
Google Scholar
Poulaki, M. (2014). Neurocinematics and the Discourse of Control: Towards a Critical Neurofilmology. Cinéma and Cie: International Film Studies Journal, XIV (22-23), ss. 39-52.
Google Scholar
Pradeep, K. (2020). Neuroscience and Film: New Dimensions of Understanding Film. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research, 9 (3-4), ss. 149-157.
Google Scholar
Sanz-Aznar, J. i in. (2020). Methodology for the Neurocinematic Analysis of Film Transitions through Cuts to the Next Shot Using the Electroencephalogram. Communication and Methods, 2 (2), ss. 5-20. https://doi.org/10.35951/v2i2.82
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35951/v2i2.82
Google Scholar
Sanz-Aznar, J., Bruni, L. E., Soto-Faraco, S. (2023). Cinematographic Continuity Edits across Shot Scales and Camera Angles: An ERP Analysis. Frontiersin.org. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1173704/full
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1173704
Google Scholar
Sanz-Aznar, J. i in. (2023). Differentiating Types of Cinematographic Shot Changes by Cut through an EEG Power Spectral Analysis. Psycnet.apa.org. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Faca0000609
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000609
Google Scholar
Authors
Ewelina Twardoch-Raśetwardoch@o2.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2497-8463
Assistant Professor at the Institute of Audiovisual Arts at the Jagiellonian University. Author of numerous scientific articles (including in Teksty Drugie, Humanities), editor of collective books, author of the monograph Sztuka biometryczna w perspektywie filozofii post- i transhumanizmu. W stronę estetyki postafektywnej [Biometric Art in the Perspective of the Philosophy of Post- and Transhumanism: Towards post-affective aesthetics] (2021), for which she received the main award of the Polish Society for Film and Media Research. She participated in numerous scientific conferences in Poland and abroad. Member of the Art Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and deputy editor-in-chief of Przegląd Kulturoznawczy. In 2015-2020, she carried out an individual research project funded by the National Science Centre. She is a translator from German. His scientific interests include new media art, philosophy, literature, and contemporary cinema.
Statistics
Abstract views: 92PDF downloads: 95
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Ewelina Twardoch-Raś
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author grants the publisher a royalty-free non-exclusive licence (CC BY 4.0) to use the article in Kwartalnik Filmowy, retains full copyright, and agrees to identify the work as first having been published in Kwartalnik Filmowy should it be published or used again (download licence agreement). The journal is published under the CC BY 4.0 licence. By submitting an article, the author agrees to make it available under this licence.
In issues from 105-106 (2019) to 119 (2022) all articles were published under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. During this period the authors granted a royalty-free non-exclusive licence (CC BY-ND 4.0) to use their article in „Kwartalnik Filmowy”, retained full copyright, and agreed to identify the work as first having been published in our journal should it be published or used again.
