IX

		certs, etc. Typically, since Griffith, viewers had learned to identify with a film's principal characters. The classical cinema manipulated this involvement through techniques (preferential staging and lighting, more close-ups, etc.) integrated into a plot that progressively restricted the world to a series of action sequences that put the protagonist at risk. Through it all though, the point of view remained respectfully spectatorial in tone: one essentially looked at an action unfolding out there, in the diegetic world. 46 Much more than this therefore was needed for the movies to release the kind of punch, the physical absorption, the immediate rush, that other types of contemporary entertainment were now able to deliver. For the jaded younger audience certainly, partial identification with a character in an otherwise placid, detached spectacle, was no longer enough. They groped for total involvement, absolute participation in the show. How could this be achieved? More so than any other techniques, motion within the frame and camera movement were found to provide just the kind of visual stir needed to grab the spectators' attention.

		XI

		But let me go back for a moment. Action scenes had always been Hollywood's forte. Faster cutting, violent motion on the screen typically took over when characters stopped talking. All at once the visual activity on the screen swelled. The pace sharpened as a result of someone's chasing someone else. Or there could be an outburst of frenzied action with one character hitting another, the crashing of a body against a piece of furniture, with general mayhem ensuing, etc. When analyzed, an action scene can be said to work on two levels. First there is the interest in the diegetic action: what is happening to the protagonist, how much danger is involved, how will everything turn out. But second, there is also, for the eye, a series of quick responses to multiple stimuli. The eye indeed is programmed to react at once to any change in the peripheral vision area. The flurry of activity therefore punches the optic nerves all the way to the visual cortex. Although essentially a disturbance, the sensory staccato raises the stakes, sending a thrill to otherwise inactive little conduits. As a result of this twin maneuvering, the psychological identification with the character in danger is intensified by a visceral reaction based on the quickening of the stimuli. But whereas the first response benefits from careful character conditioning and narrative buildup, and is thus dependent on