Detection and analysis of emotional highlights in film

Thls work explores the emotional experience of viewing a film or movie. We seek to invesagate the supposition that emotional highlights in feature films can be detected through analysis of viewers' involuntary physiological reactions. We employ an empirical approach to the investigation of this hypothesis, which we will discuss in detail, culminating in a detailed analysis of the results of the experimentation carried out during the course of this work. An experiment, known as the CDVPlex, was conducted in order to compile a ground-truth of human subject responses to stimuli in film. This was achieved by monitoring and recordng physiological reactions of people as they viewed a large selection of films in a controlled cinema-like environment using a range of biometric measurement devices, both wearable and integrated. In order to obtain a ground truth of the emotions actually present in a film, a selection of the films used in the CDVPlex were manually annotated for a defined set of emotions. We examine how filmmakers use devices and techniques to stimulate viewers' emotions, particularly how music is used in film to intensify the impact of onscreen action. We also examine the different event types of which film scenes are comprised and how they can be detected using audio-visual analysis of the video content. Finally, we calculate and study the correlations between the emotions found in the annotated films, and "events" or highhghts in the viewers' biometric measurements, and also between the scene events and music occurring in the film and the emotions present.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Dublin City University

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Rothwell, Sandra

• Film studies

Language dc:language

en