Abstract:

Based on Neurocinematics' focus on the "missing spectator" and its bridging attempts, this paper argues for the place and functioning of "micro space" in the process of film viewing. While "perceptual grouping" reveals that action is the primary visual element, "embodied simulation" reveals that human beings are able to incorporate meaning into themselves through watching action. Action in the movie is not only limited to the actors' movements, but more importantly to the camera's movements implied by the changes in the "micro space". First of all, the camera simulates the real human eye, and the changes in the "micro space" imply the movement of a character, which the audience experiences the viewing through the character's perspective and carries out the "embodied simulation". Secondly, the "micro space" provides the premise for the film's narrative, preventing the audience from being caught in semantic confusion. The "micro space" presupposes the presence of the viewer, and the mechanism of "embodied simulation" complements the discontinuous action and encourages the viewer to make connections between the relatively independent parts of the film. In the end, the "micro space" takes on a variety of semantics through the interweaving of "inherited concepts" and "acquired concepts", and is constantly being transformed into a fluid whole in the course of viewing the film.

Key words: neurocinematics, imagination, cinematic spatial narrative, spatial narrative