THE REALITY OF ILLUSION - ANDERSON,JD

In this article I describe some aspects of Joseph Anderson's theory of film, and evaluate these in the context of ecological theory. My anal ysis of Anderson's interpretation of the work of James Gibson leads me to conclude that there are unresolved issues in Gibson's theory of de pictions (still and moving pictures). I suggest that some of these iss ues might be clarified through a closer consideration of perception as an exploratory act and of film as an instrument that guides explorati on. In the process of developing this argument, I provide suggestions for empirical research that might be useful in evaluating film theorie s.