Emotions, Technology, and Design

Sharon Tettegah, Safiya Noble

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780128018729
• eBook ISBN: 9780081007013
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Psychology

Emotional design explicitly addresses the emotional relationship between the objects and the subjects of design—in this book, the objects are technologies, and the subjects are technology users. The first section delves into the philosophy and theory of emotional design to provide a foundation for the rest of the book, which goes on to discuss emotional design principles, the design and use of emoticons, and then intelligent agents in a variety of settings. A conclusion chapter covers future research and directions. Emotions, Technology, and Design provides a thorough look at how technology design affects emotions and how to use that understanding to in practical applications.- Discusses the role of culture, trust, and identity in empathetic technology- Presents a framework for using sound to elicit positive emotional responses- Details the emotional use of color in design- Explores the use of emoticons, earcons, and tactons- Addresses the emotional design specific to agent-based environments

Section I

Experiments and Theories in Emotions, Technology, and Design

Chapter 1

Emotional Screen

Color and Moving Images in Digital Media

Federico Pierotti University of Florence, Firenze, Italy

Abstract

Contemporary media display a predominant tendency deriving from the emotional impact of color, in connection with the cultural dissemination of neuroscience and with the new color manipulation possibilities presented by the recent digital turn. On this basis, I seek to examine some of the potential relationships between the area of science and topics on color and emotion, and the tendency of digital cinema to develop color models with a strong visual and sensory impact. This trend implies a model where the cognitive activity of the viewer is focused on engaging his or her entire sensory apparatus and on the centrality of emotional responses. Three examples, taken from media advertising and cinema, show three possible ways of building artificial and self-referential color patterns, which are detached from the standard conditions of conventional vision.

Keywords

Film studies

Media studies

Color

Black-and-white

Emotion

Neuroscience

Digital media

Advertising

From the very beginning of the medium of film, up to the end of the nineteenth century, the use of color in motion pictures has been supported by scientific and experimental knowledge on bodily and emotional responses to color stimuli. Today, this bond is strongly evident in various areas of film and media production. Indeed, contemporary cinema displays a predominant tendency deriving from the emotional impact of color in connection with the cultural dissemination of neuroscience and with the new color manipulation possibilities presented by the recent digital turn.

The particular objective of this essay is to highlight that there is a specific means of expressing color in contemporary cinema that may be defined with the concept of emotional color. The substantiation of such aesthetics was undoubtedly furthered by the recent digital turn, which not only stands as a technological breakthrough, but marks a real change in perception (Casetti, 2008, p. 187; Ritchin, 2009; Rodowick, 2007). Indeed, with the transition from analog to digital, color loses its indexical relationship with profilmic reality (Manovich, 2001, p. 300), and this aspect has reinforced the idea that color is to be perceived by the viewer in an emotional sense. Color has gained increasing autonomy, becoming a key element for the use of images in contemporary film and media.

Today’s cultural interest in the subject of color has been fueled by the combination of several factors. Firstly, studies in neuroscience on the visual brain and the neural basis of perceptual processes have shown that the origin of receptive vision lies in color (Zeki, 1999); the spread of neuroscience across significant areas of contemporary society has encouraged the circulation of such knowledge in mass culture.

Secondly, contemporary cinema reveals a clear interest in episodes of film history where color was regarded as a sensory element (color as attraction in early cinema, the prelogical thinking of color in Ejzenštejn, “color of feelings” in Antonioni). Furthermore, postmodern aesthetics call us to consider perception as a bodily experience. The idea of it being the body that is perceiving¹ ties in with the idea that color is no longer a mere visual sensation of the eye, but a synesthetic experience engaging all the senses.

On the basis of the above assumptions, this essay will focus on some specific choices of color and black-and-white design through which the emotional impact of color will be measured in contemporary digital cinema and video. These choices are designed to evoke empathy or detachment in the viewer. In order to study the relationships between emotions and colors on the screen, reference should be made to the dialog between symbolic conventions and theories on the neurobiological responses to color stimuli.

Digital cinema and video will be considered as a useful tool to understand contemporary visual culture.² Studying color in this perspective means going beyond a purely formalist approach and gaining an understanding of two important aspects: the origin of cultural knowledge used by features and shorts, be it intentionally or less so, and the approach it adopts in relation to such knowledge.

Color as Cinematic Emotion: A Historical Summary

The subject of the relationship between color and emotion is not exclusive to contemporary culture; rather, it has been closely tied to the nature of modern visual media since their respective origins. The media of photography and film expanded over a period from the mid- to late-nineteenth century, which saw significant epistemological changes relating to the relationship between technology and forms of perception (Casetti, 2008; Crary, 1990, 1999). Film is a new experience, characterized by its strong impact on the senses and the body of the viewer and, from the outset, color was used to increase the intensity of this impact (Gunning, 1994). In early cinema, the attraction effect of color is one of the sensory experiences through which theories, experiments, and ideas on color are applied and disseminated (Yumibe, 2012). Subsequently, the subject of the impact of color on viewers continued to be of interest both to experts of science and technology (inventors, scientists, industrialists) and operators of the creative industry (directors, cinematographers, art directors, color consultants).

Between the 1930s and 1960s, there was a slow and gradual transition from black-and-white to color in primary modern visual media (film, print, television, photography). The various factors that brought about this shift may be seen in a new light when considered on the basis of contemporary knowledge on the psychological and behavioral significance of color. For instance, in the period where Hollywood’s mode of representation became established, it was crucial to control the emotional intensity of the medium of film, making it second to the development of the narrative. The ideal form for this model is black-and-white, which predominated up until the fifties. When Hollywood classical cinema came into contact with Technicolor, between the 1920s and 1930s, the question of color constantly returned back to the relationship with the viewer. Empirical experience and scientific knowledge on the impact of color were used, with varying degrees of effectivity, in support of the contrasting viewpoints. Those who opposed Technicolor were convinced that color acted as a barrier when watching a film, as it attracts the viewers’ attention away from the narrative. Whereas, its proponents argued that color was able to enrich the sensory and emotional experience of the viewer (Kalmus, 1935). In the context of this debate, the introduction of Technicolor into Hollywood had to undergo lengthy negotiations with the studio system, through which a model was established based on color restraint and controlling its emotional power (Higgins, 2007). Even with regard to other media, color has often been considered as an element that is to be introduced in small doses, given the widespread belief in its ability to distract. The colors in medi...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Section I: Experiments and Theories in Emotions, Technology, and Design
• Section II: Critical Theoretical Engagements with Emotions, Technology, and Design
• Index
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