Neurocinema

History

Although these studies began in the 2000s, this idea has been around since the early years of film. This is demonstrated with Sergei Eisenstein's experiments with montage theory and Lev Kuleshov's famous “Kuleshov Effect”. These Russian filmmakers studied American filmmakers such as D.W. Griffith and discovered that film was a “malleable” art. The Kuleshov Effect proved that the juxtaposition of a series of images together can create ideas and emotions in an audience's mind. This revolutionized propaganda in the Soviet Union to spread the influence and collective strength of a new revolutionary Marxist state after the revolution of 1917.

This idea has grown ever since. Alfred Hitchcock referred to this idea of film saying, “[Film] creation is based on an exact science of audience reactions”. He said this long before MRI technology was even fathomable. In more recent years marketing agencies have had their foot in the door with these studies in terms of neuromarketing. They use “fMRI, EEG, galvanic skin response, eye-tracking and other biometric approaches” to screen trailers to show studios and production companies how to best market a film for distribution.