THE NEGOTIATION OF REALITY: A COGNITIVE APPROACH TO THE PERCEPTION OF DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD CINEMA By Georgios K. Dimitriadis A dissertation submitted to the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies, School of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Philosophy – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece In fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................V ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... VII NOTES ON TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................................................ IX CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION – A NEW THEORY FOR AN OLD ART? ........................................................................ 1 1.1. THE CHALLENGES TOWARDS A THEORY OF DIGITAL CINEMATIC REALITIES .................................................... 3 1.2. THE RISE OF COGNITIVISM .................................................................................................................. 7 1.3. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS: AN OUTLINE TO THE PRESENT STUDY ............................................................ 15 1.3.1. Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................... 15 1.3.2. Content and Structure of Chapters ..................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2 TOWARDS DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY & VISIONS OF THE WORLD IN CINEMA ....................................... 26 2.1. BRINGING ONGOING FEUDS TO AN END .............................................................................................. 26 2.2. CINEMA: PHOTOGRAPHY, PAINTING AND THE NEW MEDIUM .................................................................. 29 2.3. TECHNOLOGIES OF REALITY ............................................................................................................... 38 2.3.1. Technology in Aid of Realism ............................................................................................. 38 2.3.2. Collage and Form ............................................................................................................... 45 2.4. THE DIGITAL AVANT-GARDE .............................................................................................................. 52 2.5. LOOKING THROUGH WORLDS BOUNDED BY TECHNOLOGY ...................................................................... 57 2.5.1. On Windows and Frames ................................................................................................... 57 2.5.2. Re-routing the Role of Visual Perception in Cinema Theory: Beyond the Window/Frame Polarity .......................................................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 3 RE-COMPOSING REALITY.................................................................................................................. 71 3.1. THE WORLD IN FRAGMENTS: FROM CONTINUOUS TO CONTIGUOUS .......................................................... 71 3.2. ADDRESSING CINEMA EDITING, NOW AND THEN ................................................................................... 78 3.3. APPROACHING THEORIES OF VISUAL FRAGMENTATION ........................................................................... 85 3.3.1. Helmholtz’s theory of Perception ....................................................................................... 87 3.3.2. Gestalt theory of Perception .............................................................................................. 90 3.3.3. Gibson’s Ecological theory of Perception ........................................................................... 94 3.3.4. Lakoff and Johnson’s Cognitive Semantics ......................................................................... 99 3.4. APPROACHING MENTAL SCHEMATA: JULIAN HOCHBERG ON PERCEPTION ................................................ 104 3.5. DIGITAL EDITING AND PERCEPTUAL RE-CONSTRUCTION: APPLYING HOCHBERG’S MODEL ............................ 113 3.5.1. Then and Now: Changes to Consider ............................................................................... 113 3.5.2. Addressing the First Differentiating Feature: the Cognitively Demanding Environment of Digital Worlds ............................................................................................................................. 116 3.5.3. Addressing the Second Differentiating Feature: Rapid Editing ........................................ 126 CHAPTER 4 MOTION: BRINGING IMAGES TO LIFE ............................................................................................. 135 4.1. MOTION AS LIFE: FROM AUTOMATA TO CYBERNETICS .......................................................................... 135 iii 4.2. THE DEBATE ON THE REALITY OF MOTION .......................................................................................... 142 4.3. WHAT CINEMATIC MOTION IS NOT: AN ONGOING HISTORY .................................................................. 145 4.4. ADDRESSING THE VARIATIONS OF CINEMATIC MOTION ......................................................................... 151 4.5. GESTURAL MOVEMENT .................................................................................................................. 153 4.5.1. Biological Motion and Motion Capture Technology ......................................................... 153 4.5.2. Associating Biological Motion with Hochberg’s Model of Perception .............................. 158 4.6. PROXEMIC MOVEMENT .................................................................................................................. 165 4.6.1. Placing Moving Objects in Space ...................................................................................... 165 4.6.3. Moving in Cinematic Space Across Edited Shots .............................................................. 175 CHAPTER 5 THE POWER OF STORYTELLING ...................................................................................................... 185 5.1. MOTION WITH A PURPOSE: FROM ‘MOVING AROUND’ TO ‘GOING SOMEWHERE’ ..................................... 185 5.2. FROM OLD, TO NEW, TO DIGITAL ..................................................................................................... 189 5.2.1. The Old and the New…or the Same? ................................................................................ 189 5.2.2. CGI in the Narrative Vs. Spectacle Debate ....................................................................... 195 5.3. COHERENCE AS THE PREREQUISITE FOR A UNIFIED THEORY OF NARRATIVE COMPREHENSION ....................... 200 5.3.1. Accommodating Oneself in a Fantasy Movie World ........................................................ 200 5.3.2. The Importance of Narrative Familiarity and Coherence in Synthetic Worldmaking ....... 203 5.4. COGNITIVE COMPREHENSION OF CONTINUITY NARRATIVE SEQUENCES IN MOVIES ..................................... 209 5.4.1. Dos and Don’ts in Applying Cognitive Psychology in Cinema Narratives ......................... 209 5.4.2. A Cognitive Notation Model for Visual Narratives: Preserving Only What Matters ........ 217 5.4.3. To Cut or Not to Cut? The Importance of Breakpoints for Narrative Comprehension in Action Sequences ........................................................................................................................ 224 5.5. THE MIND WE INHABIT: THE FUNCTION OF HUMAN MEMORY AS NARRATIVE .......................................... 230 5.5.1. Perceiving the World As Narratives and Vice Versa ......................................................... 230 5.5.2. Applying Theory of Memory to Comprehending Movie Structure.................................... 235 5.5.3. Memory in the Context of Story vs. Form ......................................................................... 242 5.5.4. Weaving Worlds: the Role of Memory in Narrative Worldmaking .................................. 246 CHAPTER 6 CLOSING REMARKS ........................................................................................................................ 252 6.1. EXPANDING THE PRESENT STUDY ...................................................................................................... 252 6.2. ON UMBRELLAS AND RAINY DAYS .................................................................................................... 256 WORKS CITED ................................................................................................................................ 260 A. BOOKS, ARTICLES AND MISCELLANEOUS ................................................................................................ 260 B. MOVIES .......................................................................................................................................... 273 C. AUDIOVISUAL SUPPLEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 278 Ci. Movie Clips ............................................................................................................................