We are delighted to announce that Katalin E. Bálint and Stephen Neal will deliver keynotes for the WICED x Cinemotions joint workshop!
Katalin Bálint
The psychology of cinematography: The role of audio-visual formal features in the film viewing experience
There is a growing body of literature indicating that formal features can have a significant impact on the cognitive and emotional responses of audiences. While research in this area has traditionally focused on the informational function of formal features, recent studies have recognized that they can also play a role in shaping more complex responses related to the media entertainment experience, such as character engagement and empathy. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of this field and discuss the methodological challenges of studying the effect of formal features on the viewer’s film experience.
Katalin E. Bálint is an Associate Professor in Media Psychology at the VU Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her background is in psychology and film studies. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the media psychology of narratives. She examines narrative experiences, audience members’ empathy with story characters, as well as the role of design components of audio-visual stories in narrative effects. She is a board member of the Society of Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image and the editorial board of the Journal of Media Psychology.
Stephen Neal
Directing Multi-Camera Television at the BBC
The director of a multi-camera production performs a pivotal role in orchestrating the work of the creative team behind the coverage of an outside broadcast or studio event. The discipline has developed a distinct cinematographic grammar, which works to provide viewers with unrivalled views of the action taking place at an event and the people involved, as well as a broad understanding of the context in which that activity takes place – in an environment where errors and unscreenable content cannot necessarily be edited out in post-production. In this talk, I will provide insights into the craft from a practitioner’s perspective, illustrated with examples from my career as a multi-camera director at the BBC.
Stephen Neal is an experienced multi-camera studio and outside broadcast director, with 25 years directing experience at the BBC working across factual, music, entertainment and news genres, almost all of it live. He has a particular love for making technically ground-breaking, live factual shows, and enjoys pushing the boundaries of what is possible in a creative way. Stephen has been a studio and outside broadcast director on the BBC’s flagship live weeknight daily factual programme “The One Show” since its inception in 2006, along with directing roles on many other high-profile BBC shows, including “Stargazing Live”, “Airport Live”, “Building Cars Live” and “Arctic Live”. For BBC Events he has directed the multiple source integration of the Death of Her Majesty the Queen and the Proclamations of His Majesty the King. Recently he has been working with the Eurovision Song Contest Host Broadcast team on technical integration. Previously, he worked as a studio director for BBC News. Stephen also works with BBC Media Action to support the development of public service broadcasters in countries such as Ukraine and Estonia. Stephen is a member of the UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology and of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
