Cinema, Trance and Cybernetics

Ute Holl is Professor of Media Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland. Research on history of cinema and perception, techniques of visualising and knowledge, history of electro-acoustics and radiophonics, anthropologic and experimental cinema. She is fellow of Forscherkolleg Bild-Evidenz, FU Berlin.

"Cinema, Trance and Cybernetics will change the way you see the cinema's past. Through an impressive synthesis of psychology, cybernetics, anthropology and the cinematic arts, it reveals how cinema was born in the scientific laboratory and grew into a machine for controlling, but also emancipating, mental life. Providing a powerful historical account that brings Maya Deren in contact with Vladimir Bekhterev, amongst others, the book shows how cinema ultimately came to shape us into its own image." - Pasi Valiaho, Goldsmiths, University of London

• Foreword: Fade into Black by Pasi Valiaho Preface to the English Translation of Cinema, Trance and Cybernetics In the Beginning 1.1 Cinema 1.2 Cybernetics 1.3 Knots 1.4 To Whom it May Concern 2.1 Discretions Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead: Ball, New York 2.2 Depersonalizations Maya Deren: Hollywood, Haiti 2.3 Deviations Jean Rouch: Accra, Paris 2.4 Compressions Albert Londe: Paris, Paris 3.1 Mental Apparatuses 3.1.1 Experimenting 3.1.2 Shocking 3.1.3 Registering 3.1.4 Going Wild 3.1.5 Resonating 3.1.6 Rhythmizing 3.2 Psyco-Motor Activity 3.3 Psycho-Drama 3.4 Psycho-Technology 3.5 Psycho-Reflexology 3.5.1 Feelings and Emotions 3.5.2 The Ends of Paranoia 3.5.3 Personality Changes 3.5.4 Ways of Behaving 3.5.5 Nerve Priming 3.5.6 Reflex Arcs 3.5.7 Media or Homeostatic Processes 4.1 The Truth Won by Means of Film 4.1.1 Signals 4.1.2 Agitations 4.1.3 Explosions 4.1.4 Intervals 4.1.5 Experiences 4.1.6 Centers or Centrifuges 5. After All: Return to Receiver Bibliography Index