1st Edition

Found Footage Horror Films A Cognitive Approach

By Peter Turner Copyright 2019
204 Pages
by Routledge

204 Pages 35 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

204 Pages 35 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book adopts a cognitive theoretical framework in order to address the mental processes that are elicited and triggered by found footage horror films. Through analysis of key films, the book explores the effects that the diegetic camera technique used in such films can have on the cognition of viewers. It further examines the way in which mediated realism is constructed in the films in order... Read more

TABLE OF CONTENTS





List of Figures



Acknowledgements





Introduction: why found footage horror films matter



Approaching diegetic camera horror



The processing of point of view



Developing a cognitive approach to diegetic camera horror



Limits of psychoanalytic theories for diegetic camera horror



Cognitivism and how we think about the diegetic camera



Priming for point of view



Engagement and empathy in diegetic camera films



Attention and cognitive participation: activating the seeking system



Alignment and allegiance with camera operators and charismatic killers



Notes



Bibliography



Filmography





1 Genealogy



Faked representations



First-person point of view



Real death on screen



Developments in technology and the impact on aesthetics: cameras, surveillance, and the dominance of mediated reality



The horror genre: history, aesthetics, and technology



Mimicked forms: documentary, reality television, and home video



Notes



Bibliography



Filmography





2 Narration and the diegetic camera



The diegetic camera and point of view



Issues of narration and enunciation



Self-consciousness



Tone and metatextuality



Performance



Sound and dialogue



Personal imagining



Realism



Notes



Bibliography



Filmography





3 Priming the spectator and mediated reality



Defining priming



Viewer hypothesising



Representing mediated reality with the diegetic camera



Stylistic techniques



Creating mood and emotion



Conclusion



Notes



Bibliography



Filmography





4 Camera operator interaction with viewers and profilmic subjects: The case of home movies



Recognition of camera operators and cinematography as performance



Alignment of information accumulation and cognitive and bodily response



Interaction with the viewer



Interaction between camera operators and profilmic subjects



Empathy, affective identification, and allegiance with camera operators



Allegiance with camera operators engaging in amoral behaviour



Conclusion



Notes



Bibliography



Filmography





5 Allegiance with Charismatic Killers: Man Bites Dog, The Last Horror Movie and Zero Day



Recognition of killers and amoral fascination



How the diegetic camera directs moral evaluations of characters



Empathy, the killer’s face, and the close-up



Moral Structure: Killers and camera operators



Conclusion



Notes



Bibliography



Filmography





Conclusion: The future for diegetic cameras



Re-definitions and classifications



Conclusions



The importance of priming



Self-consciousness and camera operator interaction



Allegiance with charismatic killers



Further areas of exploration



Notes



Bibliography


Biography

Peter Turner is Associate Lecturer in the School of Technology, Design and Environment at Oxford Brookes University, UK

"Violence in fi ction is admittedly a difficult topic. And while Turner’s book has a few shortcomings that are attributable to the complications involved in conducting empirical research on horror, his book is an admirable work of cognitive film theory. It should inspire subsequent, testable investigations of his intriguing claims and provoke researchers to devise ethically responsible means of acquiring data pertaining to audience preferences for various types of realist horror." - Rikke Schubart, University of Southern Denmark.