Paper short abstract:

From the perspective of philosophy, visual anthropology and consciousness studies Blassnigg will discuss the complex processes of cinema perception as an active participation that critically engages with the visions of the filmmakers, their apparatus, and their interaction with the filmed subjects.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will take the perspective of philosophy, visual anthropology and consciousness studies to present the complex processes of cinema perception (as distinct from the more familiar interpretation of film texts), to be an active participation that critically engages with the pre-packaged vision of the filmmakers and their apparatus. It will shift the attention away from the main focus on the content and the production process of the film to its reception, the involvement of the heterogeneous distributed audiences and the complex processes of the cinema experience.

The paper will draw on current research in which the author is developing a model for a comparison between the perception of film and the perception of clairvoyants. Based on an ethnographic study of clairvoyance in a European context she will deconstruct the processes of knowledge transfer and interaction with consciousness.

By revisiting Henri Bergson's philosophy and his concept of time as duration through the filter of new historicism in film theory and Edgar Morin's anthropological approach to the cinema reception, this presentation aims to critically reflect on the imaginary qualities imposed on the cinema technology and the magical connotations of technology, by inviting to a discussion of consciousness in a convergence of anthropology, philosophy and cinema studies. The paper also suggests a way to revisit the self-reflective and interactive relationships of the anthropologist in the field in particular as it becomes evident in the implications of film or new media technologies within a framework of a more complex understanding of the perception of film.