The Empathic Screen is devoted to examining how our natural tendency to simulate our fellow humans' actions affects the experience of watching (and hearing!) films. The authors attempt to build bridges between cognitivist, neuroscientific research, and philosophical traditions that tend to privilege "nurture" over "nature." Cognitivist-oriented film scholars will particularly enjoy the detailed analyses of film scenes. Gallese and Guerra show how these
scenes trigger precognitive, embodied simulation through camera movements, close-ups of facial expressions and bodily experiences, editing, sound effects, or a combination of all these techniques. The book's discussion of experimental findings contains technical terminology and diagrams that the authors always
summarize in accessible terms. This book represents the growing influence, not just of cognitive film scholarship, but of cognitive science in the humanities.
Vittorio Gallese, MD and trained neurologist, is Professor of Psychobiology at the University of Parma, Italy and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, Dept. of Art History and Archeology, Columbia University, New York, USA. Cognitive neuroscientist, his research focuses on the relation between the sensory-motor system and cognition by investigating the neurobiological and bodily grounding of intersubjectivity, empathy, language and aesthetics. He is the author of more
than 200 scientific publications and two books.
Michele Guerra is Professor of Film Theory at the University of Parma. Authors of more than one hundred publications among articles and books, his work mainly focuses on the relationship between cognitive neuroscience and cinema, American and Italian film history. He is an Associate Editor of the film journal "Fata Morgana", and member of the Scientific Board of "Cinergie", "La Valle dell'Eden", and "Arabeschi".