E.: Lowlevel features of film: What they are and why we would be lost without them. Psychocinematics

The narrative of a fi lm is oft en cited as the driving force for viewers ’ attention to and engagement in a fi lm. Th e narrative is also conceptually the most vivid for fi lm viewers; it is not oft en that viewers, when asked for their opinions on a fi lm, discuss their strong feelings on the ordering of cuts or other structural elements. Th e reality is that average fi lmgoers are concerned largely with plot and story (the narrative), and they consider the “details ” of fi lm-making only insofar as they contribute to a better understanding of the former. Th ere are obvious exceptions to this theory: fi lms without narrative (typically the avant-garde) force the viewer to rely on only sensory information and give more weight to the visual information that is otherwise overlooked (Bordwell & Th ompson, 2003). However, for the purposes of this chapter, we will refer specifi cally to popular, or Hollywood, fi lms in our discussions of fi lm and movies. Th is sample of fi lms is particularly relevant because, in most cases, popular Hollywood fi lms are made to mimic reality. Movies are projected in a way that movement appears biologically appropriate. 1 Th e color in modern movies is intended to mimic color stimuli in the real world. From a young age, we learn the nuances of continu-ity editing, so much so that adults oft en fail to notice cuts (the junction of two shots) whe