On the Physical Variables Filmmakers Use to Engage Viewers

It is widely acknowledged that people are emotionally affected by movies, but how does the physical structure of movies contribute to emotional engagement? To answer this question, we measured subjective and objective emotional tension as 40 viewers watched a series of short movies. We mapped the re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts creativity, and the arts, 2023-10, Vol.17 (5), p.541-552
Main Authors: Armstrong, Kacie L., Cutting, James E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Auditory Stimulation
Emotional regulation
Emotions
Female
Film theory
Galvanic Skin Response
Heart Rate
Human
Luminance
Male
Motion pictures
Narratives
Noise Effects
Psychological Engagement
Psychology
Short films
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Summary:It is widely acknowledged that people are emotionally affected by movies, but how does the physical structure of movies contribute to emotional engagement? To answer this question, we measured subjective and objective emotional tension as 40 viewers watched a series of short movies. We mapped the resulting data against the dynamic low-level structure of each movie, isolating the effects of clutter, luminance, motion, shot density, shot scale, and sound amplitude on emotional response. Across all measures, viewers' responses to the movies were notably synchronized, and this synchrony appears to be partly driven by low-level cinematic structure. These findings provide empirical support for several long-standing ideas that lie at the intersection of film theory and the psychology of emotion.
ISSN:1931-3896
1931-390X
DOI:10.1037/aca0000483