Advisory — Ever really connected with an on-screen character? Dr. Aaron Taylor can tell you why
A trip to the movies or turning on your latest Netflix binge program is sometimes more than mindless entertainment — especially when you feel like you really connect with the characters you see on screen. But is that a thing, and how can you feel as though you connect with an actor playing a role?
Dr. Aaron Taylor is a professor and Board of Governors Teaching Chair and the inaugural coordinator of the new Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies Program at the University of Lethbridge. He will be presenting the next Public Professor Series talk, Grasping at shadows: Our relationship with cinematic characters, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m. at the Owl Acoustic Lounge.
About the talk
Our capacity to connect with people we only ever meet onscreen is a puzzling matter. For example, what enables our feelings for screen characters, and are these feelings “real?” In what special way are actors equipped to bring them to life so convincingly? What happens when these figures are borrowed from other media — say, comic books? And what rights permit us to repurpose their gripping appearances in our social media conversations about them without fearing legal reprisal? Drawing from two decades of media research on acting, superheroes, cognitive theory and copyright, Dr. Aaron Taylor will survey how and why people matter on the silver screen. Join us for a talk on acting, feeling and remaking, and rediscover your own delight in these “picture personalities.”
Taylor is available to talk with media about his sold-out presentation in advance of Thursday’s event.
WHAT: Media availability with Dr. Aaron Taylor
WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: W402A (Digital Cinema Suite) — Meet in the University Hall Atrium
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Contact:
Trevor Kenney, Manager of Public Affairs
403-329-2710
403-360-7639 (cell)
@ULethbridge
Our University’s Blackfoot name is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. The University is located in traditional Blackfoot Confederacy territory. We honour the Blackfoot people and their traditional ways of knowing in caring for this land, as well as all Indigenous Peoples who have helped shape and continue to strengthen our University community.