The science behind movies
How do movies affect our brain? Is the movie culture directing our thoughts in a certain path? Do movies change our behavior? Do movies carry a certain message? Perhaps a warning? These are all questions that we don’t normally give much thought to when we watch a film. However, it is important to employ our critical thinking skills when we analyze a movie we just watched.
Since the creation of film, there are eleven main genres that comprise the film industry. These eleven genres are: Crime & Gangster, Adventure, Action, Comedy, Drama, Epics, Horror, Science Fiction, Musicals, Westerns and War. Each segment has its own effect on the population, the most of which is the Horror movie industry. Studies have shown that
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adrenalin junkies get real pleasure out of being scared by horror movies, but in a variety of ways they may be risking their physical and mental health without even knowing it.
When we watch an intense scene in a film our heart rate and blood pressure increase. This can and does lead to heart attacks, in people who have cardiovascular weaknesses. Even if you are young and healthy, watching horror movies can mess with you in ways you didn’t expect. When you get scared your adrenaline and cortisone levels spike. This in turn can dredge up repressed traumatic memories. The change in your brain chemistry reminds you of times when it was in a similar state, even if you had no idea you even had those memories. An example of a Horror movies that have influenced real life is Jaws. This blockbuster has a large shark terrorizing a small resort town, causing the local police chief to team with a marine biologist and shark hunter to take it down. Though shark attacks are hugely infrequent in real life, Spielberg’s film blew away that fact and struck fear deep into beach-loving folks’ hearts, causing widespread panic that a shark could strike at any time. The movie’s sheer terror factor was nothing like audiences had seen before, and the result was that, for a while, beach tourism took a notable hit from coast to coast as punters feared they would be munched to pieces. Every single person who saw
that movie knew that it was fiction, and that those characters were just actors. They probably knew that, in real life, there isn't a shark big enough to eat your boat. But, when the genius scientist character in the movie agreed that killing the shark was the only way to prevent dead tourists, we assumed that part was true. The same as we assumed you could really blow up an oxygen tank by shooting it. However, One of the effects of movies is that fiction is made in a way that makes it a fact. So, we killed all the sharks, based on what the make-believe movie told us. Not only can movies affect health and induce fear, Technology now is used in movies to manipulate our thoughts. Thanks to science, directors may soon be able to control when you feel scared or sad during a film. Thanks to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scientists can now see just how you react to every second of a film. At least one producer, Peter Katz, is using this technology to make sure the people in his audiences all experience the same level of fear, all at the same time. Even if directors don’t have the money or inclination to use this technology, other findings could still effect the way films are made. For example, scientist know that audiences’ brains react strongest to the soundtrack of films. While you may have always known deep down that that creak of a door was actually more terrifying than seeing the monster, fMRI’s have proven it. Perhaps less expected is that viewers’ brains light up almost as much when following the movement of a character’s hands. Both of these things can be utilized by directors to make sure your brain is completely in the moment during certain parts of the film, thus ensuring the entire audience reacts in the same manner.
Playwrights various techniques to create a comprehensive tale that isn’t in the traditional novel format. Lorraine Hansberry uses acts and scenes, accompanied by dialogue and stage directions, to paint a picture of the African American’s struggles in the mid-1900s she titled A Raisin in the Sun.
Lehman, Peter and Luhr, William. Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
I chose to analyze Despicable Me, an animated film geared towards a younger audience, because I was interested in examining underlying theories and messages that this film would be relaying to its viewers. Often times, when watching animated films, children are not aware of these messages, as they are absorbed by the characters, special effects, and humor. But as we have learned throughout this semester, our brains are subconsciously primed by the various surroundings we are exposed to. Since we also studied the impacts of entertainment, such as television and video games, on children, I wanted to see how a popular children’s film might also affect them.
‘Successful texts transform our understanding of the ways individuals interact with each other and society’. Explore this idea with reference to Feed and ONE other text of your choosing.
Second, in the concept that takes stars as images, Dyer indicated the image is a complicated configuration of verbal, visual, and acoustic signs, instead of only the visual one. He explained additionally the composition constitutes by the common images of stardom, or a specific star. The former includes an anatomy of the lifestyle, which involves fashion, taste, the notion of beauty of stars, conspicuous consumption, and idols of consumption. This concept could be linked to commercial or product placement that shapes the image of a role in films of TV series under capitalism. The latter contains considering stars as social types or specific images. In general social types, Dyer used Klapp’s definition on it as ‘a collective norm of role behaviour
Horror movies also give emotional relief by allowing the movie-goer to have a relief of the typical sense of fear.
Manipulation of time is one of the main common features of all films, since early black and white cinema until nowadays-modern movies. The filmmakers use a lot of different editing techniques to manipulate the flow of time and to compress the story of the movie into an acceptable duration. Virtually all films use time compression and it is often used with a purpose to create a dramatic effect. Slow motion was invented by Professor August Musger (1868 - 1929) and is described as an action that is made to appear slower than normal by passing the film through the taking camera at a faster rate than normal or by replaying a video tape recording more slowly. A filmmaker achieves slow motion by running film through his camera at a speed faster than the standard 24 frames per second; subsequent projection at 24 frames per second slows down the action. Fast motion is just the opposite one and is explained as an action that appears to move faster than normal on the screen, accomplished by filming the action at less than normal speed in the camera and then projecting it at normal speed. A sw...
Measures of blood pressure and heart rate were taken at baseline and during movie viewing. Participants watching violent movie clips showed a greater increase in anxiety than those watching the nonviolent clips. Both groups experienced increased blood pressure and reduced heart rate during movie watching compared to baseline.
After watching a movie, often does one feel some sort of emotion. Whether it be relief, confusion, or happiness, I have always heard someone express a comment regarding his or her thoughts of the film following its end. Typically, we see films as a fun way to pass the time. For others, however, movies serve as a way to escape the reality of life, help with his or her problems, or both. Therapists use this to their advantage, applying it as a form of counseling known as cinematherapy. It is as straightforward as it sounds: the therapist shows a movie that portrays a situation similar to the client’s, and hopefully it will help identify what is bothering him or her. Cinematherapy is simple yet effective, which can be seen in its process, how
The president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributers Will H. Hays asserted on how their job in the movies industry is as important as that of the clergy man or the teacher in making an impact on the child’s mind, which he described as a “clean virgin thing”, an “unmarked slate” and a “sacred thing” (Forman, 121). What the statistics of the research had shown is that 77 million people assist weekly to movies, and 1/3 of these audiences are constituted of adolescents, amongst whom 11 million are under 14 years old, who are in permanent contact with screen (Forman, 10). Among the 37% who are minor audiences, 70% and more memorize what they encounter on the screen, who will be able to remember what they see with more emphasis throughout
Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.
... and the values held by the characters in the movies, whom we see as heroes and villains that help us to question our own motives and actions. All films try to influence our thinking and behaviour in some way by presenting us with views or alternatives to certain ways of behaving. It is up to us to recognise, reflect and act upon those views rather than be influenced mindlessly. At the same time we need to be aware that film may reflect or shape values and that values change over time.
Movies are a great version of storytelling because they make stories more relatable and memorable. Storytelling is one of the most powerful capabilities humans possess. It can be used to motivate, dominate, and influence people. The scope and power of storytelling has grown immensely from its roots in stories told over the campfire. It now covers every dimension of human emotion and endeavor. This makes stories incredibly relatable and influential in that one can relate to the emotions that are being depicted and can, if wanted to, be influenced by the decision the character made. Before movies were invented, people relied on speaking and “the written word” to hear stories. Each person visualized the story’s characters, sets, and actions differently. Moviemakers have moved a step further in the way of storytelling. They take it upon themselves to physically set up the sets, give faces to the characters, and sh...