The reality of illusion: an ecological approach to cognitive film theory

Abstract

Applying research findings from studies in visual perception, neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, anthropology, Joseph D. Anderson defines the complex interaction of motion pictures with the human mind organizes the relationship between film cognitive science.Anderson s primary argument is that motion picture viewers mentally process the projected images sounds of a movie according the same perceptual rules used in response visual aural stimuli in the world outside the theater. To process everyday events in the world, the human mind is equipped with capacities developed through millions of years of evolution. In this context, Anderson builds a metatheory influenced by the writings of J. J. Eleanor Gibson employs it explore motion picture comprehension as a subset of general human comprehension perception, focusing his ecological approach film on the analysis of cinema s true substance: illusion. Anderson investigates how viewers, with their mental capacities designed for survival, respond particular aspects of filmic structurecontinuity, diegesis, character development, narrativeand examines the ways in which rules of visual aural processing are recognized exploited by filmmakers. He uses Orson Welles s Citizen Kane to disassemble redefine the contemporary concept of character identification; he addresses continuity in a shot-by-shot analysis of images from Casablanca; and he uses a wide range of research studies, such as Harry F. Harlow s work with infant rhesus monkeys, describe how motion pictures become a substitute or surrogate reality for an audience. By examining the human capacity for play the inherent potential for illusion, Anderson considers the reasons viewers find movies so enthralling, so emotionally powerful, so remarkably real.

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