This book adopts a cognitive theoretical framework to address the mental processes triggered by found footage horror films. Films studied include The Blair Witch Project, Rec, Paranormal Activity, Exhibit A, Cloverfield, Man Bites Dog, The Last Horror Movie, and Zero Day.

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

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

Filmography

Index