Enactive Authorship Second-Order Simulation of the Viewer Experience-A Neurocinematic Approach

The neurocinematic inquiry is extended in this article to the sparsely studied topic of the filmmaker (author) as an embodied agent. Departing from my concept of second-order authorship, and inspired by the second-person framework of intersubjectivity discussed by Michael Pauen and Vittorio Gallese, I propose a model in which the author simulates the viewer (experient) who further simulates the experience of the protagonist in the film. This chain of relations is described as enactive second-order simulation of the viewer experience. While the author does not have a direct key to influence the experient, there is a relation mediated by the protagonist's situatedness in the film's narrative context. I further trust the core assumption of the neurocinematic approach-namely, that film as a narrative medium provides a means to imitate contexts of life that condition the enactive simulation of both the author and the experient.

Automated summary

This article extends the neurocinematic inquiry to the topic of the filmmaker as an embodied agent. It proposes a model in which the author simulates the viewer who further simulates the experience of the film's protagonist. The importance of film as a narrative medium is highlighted.