Cognitive theories of motion pictures

The cognitivist approach to film and television studies emerged amid the growing influence of semiological and Lacanian theories, which maintain that movies reproduce and distribute ideologically-loaded semiotic systems. Based on cognitive psychology, film scholars have suggested an alternative agenda, which seeks to focus on the unique ways in which specific movies engage certain psychological mechanisms.

The course will introduce the current cognitive research of motion pictures. We will get acquaintance with its principles in the context of the substantial cinematic notion of "suspension of disbelief" and the nature-nurture debate over the origin of cinematic techniques. We will review the contribution of cognitive researchers in three main domains: the cinematic narrative, emotion, and editing. Finally, we will discuss recent empirical cinema studies.