Cinema conveys its narrative and aesthetic elements not only through moving images but also through a visual language that extends from film posters to scene compositions. Narrative is not limited to a collection of characters and events; the space in which events take place constitutes one of its foundational components. Within a cinematic context, space transcends its function as a mere backdrop and becomes an active narrative element that generates atmosphere, produces meaning, and interacts with characters. Consequently, geography is directly linked to a film’s narrative structure, and the spatial images presented to the audience both reflect the emotional tone of the story and shape cultural representations of specific places. Within the scope of this study, the interaction between narrative and geography is examined through a visual analysis of film posters and selected scenes from films shot in the Cappadocia region. Using a semiotic analysis method, the research investigates how Cappadocia is represented as a narrative space, an atmosphere-creating element, and a touristic icon. Drawing on cinematic geography, visual culture theories, and the literature on place representation, the study demonstrates that film posters and scenes can be read not merely as aesthetic products but also as visual narratives that construct geographical memory. In this context, Cappadocia is evaluated not simply as a visual setting but as an integral component of cinematic narration and a site of cultural memory.
The article presents the results of applying the Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) technology to retrain large language models for predicting the performance of Russian films based on extended text descriptions. The study includes: (1) a theoretical review of modern approaches to film box office forecasting using natural language processing; (2) proof of the hypothesis that forecasting is possible using LLMs; (3) the practical implementation of a predictive model based on retraining the ru-enRoSBERTa LoRA model; and (4) a description of a preliminary experiment on retraining a generative model based on Qwen2.5-7B instruct for creating film project descriptions. The experimental data were obtained from 1,683 Russian national films released between 2004 and 2024. The results demonstrate the possibility of achieving a forecasting accuracy of 0.93 (ROC-AUC = 0.92) using LoRA adaptation and LLM prompting—comparable to the metrics of traditional machine learning methods that rely on historical data. The study confirms the effectiveness of LLMs for solving forecasting problems in the film industry and substantiates the prospects for creating a “cyberproducer,” a decision support system for the film industry. These findings can be used to improve the financial, economic, and sociopolitical sustainability of the Russian film industry; optimize investment strategies; and reduce the financial and regulatory risks for filmmakers. Unlike traditional ML approaches based on regression, historical distribution data, and creative team composition—which tend to disadvantage emerging authors, having no accomplished projects—LLMs enable direct work with ideas and drafts during the script pitching stage, without discriminating against novice creators. Future work will extend the analysis to more detailed synopses, treatments, and full film scripts, and will aim to create a hybrid forecasting model by combining boosted ensemble ML models with LLMs.
This article examines how paintings and sculptures function as narrative devices in streaming television fiction. Focusing on The White Lotus season 2, Severance season 1, and Gold Diggers (or Russian Affairs) season 1, the study analyzes how artworks help organize atmosphere, symbolism, dramatic progression, and ideological critique within serial television narratives. Methodologically, the article combines qualitative visual discourse analysis, descriptive scene analysis, and iconographic interpretation informed by Panofsky’s approach to symbolic meaning. Rather than treating artworks as neutral set decoration, the study argues that they operate as active elements of mise-en-scène that guide interpretation, structure affect, and intensify thematic meaning. The comparison demonstrates that art objects do not perform a single stable role across the three series. In The White Lotus, paintings, sculptures, and Sicilian folklore objects function as allegorical mirrors of desire, betrayal, class satire, and gendered violence. In Severance, paintings become instruments of corporate myth, institutional memory, and ideological control within the closed symbolic universe of Lumon Industries. In Gold Diggers, art is tied to prestige, aspiration, cultural capital, and exclusion in the elite social world of Moscow. By proposing an analytical matrix structured around aesthetic, symbolic, dramatic, and ideological functions, the article offers a comparative framework for studying the role of art-historical imagery in contemporary streaming television. It therefore contributes to current debates on television aesthetics, visual culture, and serial narration by showing how artworks function not as decorative supplements but as structuring devices of narrative meaning. At the same time, the article argues that comparing three culturally distinct cases makes it possible to identify both shared narrative strategies and context-specific variations in the use of visual art. In this respect, the study positions art history as an important analytical resource for understanding contemporary screen storytelling.
This article examines sight and vision as socially conditioned phenomena. The widespread integration of AI algorithms and autonomous machine vision systems challenges us to rethink how reality is observed through new instrumental “prostheses.” A hybrid reality is emerging, in which vision becomes a distributed function performed by a network of human and nonhuman actors. The study aims to clarify the specific features of the evolution of “structures of vision”—understood as dynamic relationships between the subject of vision (human, algorithm, robot), the mediator (tool, screen, interface, platform), and the spectacle. The analysis traces the transition from the era of “visual prostheses” (glasses, microscopes, etc.) to the stage of screens and interfaces, and ultimately to the contemporary condition of algorithmic and machine vision. It reveals the circumstances under which algorithms are transformed from neutral intermediaries into co-subjects, co-authors of the spectacle, and agents that manage attention, while autonomous systems acquire their own agency in interpreting and “capturing” reality. The author proposes a comprehensive periodization, with the shifting agency of technologies as its central criterion—from the tool-prosthesis to a medium that learns to look and see. The article then advances a research agenda focused on a hybrid “ecology of the gaze,” in which social reality is constituted through the interaction of multiple regimes of vision and the practices they generate.
The digitalization of daily life, information pollution, and increasing societal tension fueled by contemporary socio-political and economic upheavals have given rise to various forms of digital deviant behavior, including doomscrolling. Adolescents may be a particularly vulnerable group due to the characteristics of this developmental period, which include a heightened tendency toward cognitive distortions. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between cognitive distortions and doomscrolling, and to examine the mediating role of personality traits. The sample consisted of 105 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years (M = 15.84, SD = 1.07), 76 % of whom were female. Data were collected using the Doomscrolling Scale, the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, and the Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire. The results confirmed that adolescents exhibit both doomscrolling tendencies and cognitive distortions. Doomscrolling was positively correlated with all cognitive distortions examined, as well as with personality traits, with the exception of extraversion. The most significant predictors were “mind reading” (positive contribution) and the meta-trait “stability” (negative contribution). Mediation analysis revealed that stability fully mediates the relationship between doomscrolling and helplessness, catastrophizing, maximalism, and moralization, while only partially mediating its relationship with personalization, stubbornness, and mind reading. These findings can be utilized by practitioners in the psychological support of adolescents. Interventions may include developing critical thinking skills, strengthening self-regulation abilities, and fostering the capacity to establish positive and supportive relationships with others.
