PMI 100

Computer issues and a reduced assessment period meant I had less time to work on this assignment than the previous data analysis report, so it was important to get my survey data compiled as quickly as possible. I started by repeating my previous strategy, but when that was taking too long I looked online for forums or communities that swapped surveys. I found a suitable subreddit where I posted a link to my survey, and asked other users to fill it out in exchange for doing the same.

Participation Request Communication

11 respondents, some did not answer all questions

Section 1: Quantitative/Multiple Choice

The film tells a story

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

As hypothesised, video 2 was seen as having more of a story, with 100% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing, compared to just 55% for video 1.

The film is interesting to watch

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Video 2 was more compelling to the audience with more respondents agreeing it was interesting and the elimination of respondents disagreeing.

The film communicates a message

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Respondents favoured Video 2 strongly, with the percentage of respondents who agreed going from 27% to 73% and the elimination of respondents disagreeing.

The film evokes emotion

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Again, respondents who disagreed with the statement in video 1 changed their answer for video 2, and the proportion of those who agreed or strongly agreed increased, meaning video 2 was seen as more emotionally resonant.

Which emotion is portrayed in the film?

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

*for this question, respondents could select multiple options.

Although it may look initially like video 1 provoked a more emotional response, by looking at the data on the X-axis we can see more emotions hit the 5-vote mark in video 2. There was a greater consensus on video 2, with 82% of audience members describing the film as portraying happiness. Generally speaking, video 2 was interpreted as portraying more positive emotions than video 1, arguably indicating respondents found it to be more satisfying or harmonious as hypothesised.

11 respondents, some did not answer all questions

Section 2: Qualitative/Written response

Data is presented in bar graphs with responses sorted into groups with similar answers, or word clouds.

Describe what is happening in the film:

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Video 2 was clearly seen as having more of a narrative or a more obvious story than Video 1, as predicted.

What is the main message of the film?

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Responses between videos were very similar, with most respondents settling on some variation of 'enjoy life'.

What is the purpose of the film?

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Again, results were pretty similar, although some respondents did remark that video 2 had more narrative structure or seemed more effective.

The film would make more sense if...*

VIDEO 1 VIDEO 2

Overall, Video 2 was clearly seen as being having a stronger story and message than Video 1, and was found to be more engaging and emotionally resonant.

The edits made in Video 3 reflect viewer feedback to include music and add a couple specific scenes to link clips.

Comparative Report

The general premise of my hypothesis was correct in that the audience did find Video 2 to be more cohesive and enjoyable.

The major interruption in continuity in Video 1 made the audience feel like there was less of a narrative or order compared to Video 2, although some people still felt a little disconnected from the second after the changes.

The colour journey of the videos was not mentioned by any respondents, and it's difficult to be certain on if or how it altered the results. That the audience in general had a more positive emotional reaction to Video 2 could be an indicator of success, as the content of both videos was very similar, but there are other variables to consider.

In the context of media psychology, there are advantages and disadvantages to the use of live action video compared to animation or graphics. Humans are a social species— we’re hardwired to recognise and connect with each other. This instinct means we can get more invested watching or seeing media with ‘real’ people in it— research shows people are more likely to remember advertisements with human faces in them (Guido et al., 2018)— but we also may be more sensitive to things that feel inaccurate or forced.

The perceived ‘reality’ of live action media can also lead to people internalising beliefs that are misinformed and/or harmful. For example, there is evidence pornography can encourage unsafe sex practices and violence against women, especially in adolescents (Quadara et al., 2017).

Gestalt theory concerns our perception, and how we process something as a whole rather than focusing on each constituent part. The context of the parts defines them rather than the other way around (Britannica, 2024). For example, in Gestalt design, objects are grouped based on their similarities or proximity (Marsh, 2020), rather than classified each individually. This top-down approach also means people can 'fill in' missing or implied information in order to create a 'whole'.

My videos depict a series of moments that could feasibly take place across an adventurous day. We see the sun rise, then people eating, driving, hiking, scuba diving and then driving again at night. My edit uses the Gestalt principles of continuity and similarity to create a more complete 'whole'.

Continuity- Sequence

Both videos follow a general timeline of morning-afternoon-evening-night, but this sequence is interrupted in video 1 by a night-time clip during the 'day' section. Viewers will find this jarring and will have more difficulty understanding the video as a narrative because of the break in continuity. They will find video 2 makes more sense as it sticks to the timeline and has softer transitions between different sections.

Similarity- Colour

Even though the subject matter is largely the same, some of the clips in Video 2 have been swapped or edited so the primary or focal colour in each is the same or similar (as in next to the colour wheel) as those before and after it, going in order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink. This will make video 2 feel as if it flows more naturally as well as enhancing the feeling of continuity/completion.

I used Instagram stories to spread my recruitment statement. It’s the social media I’m most active on and where I have the most followers that know me personally (and are therefore likely more willing to volunteer time doing something to help me out). It's also fairly common amongst my peers for people to post stories with links to petitions, tickets, articles etc. so people are used to going off-app after seeing stories.

Participation Request Communication

Techniques for better engagement:

eye contact and human faces are known to be effective and memorable in advertising

gen z values quirkiness and authenticity so casual language and a weird angle is more effective than being attractive and/or professional

time estimation for some certainty without explaining the contents of the survey

12 respondents, some did not answer all questions

Section 1: Quantitative/Multiple Choice

The animation tells a story

VIDEO A VIDEO B

The respondent who strongly disagreed with Video A did not choose an option for B. If we removed them as an outlier, A and B have the same results.

The animation is interesting to watch

VIDEO A VIDEO B

Respondents favoured Video B.

The animation communicates a message

VIDEO A VIDEO B

Respondents favoured Video B.

The animation evokes emotion

VIDEO A VIDEO B

Respondents largely favoured Video B, with those who agreed or strongly agreed increasing from 50% to over 90% and zero respondents disagreeing.

Which emotion is portrayed in the animation?

VIDEO A VIDEO B

*for this question, respondents could select multiple options.

12 respondents, some did not answer all questions

Section 2: Qualitative/Written response

For most of these I sorted responses into groups with similar answers, with the criteria for what was relevant depending on each question and my hypothesis.

Describe what is happening in the animation:

VIDEO A VIDEO B

Audience summaries were similar between videos, with a couple respondents literally replying with variations of "same as before but...". However, the specific language changed, with every response (100%) for Video B characterising the big triangle as being angry or disciplinary compared to 2 (17%) in Video A. Evidently, B was more effective in communicating emotion to an audience.

What is the main message of the animation?

VIDEO A VIDEO B

Responses varied from specific 'Don’t play catch inside' to general 'Your actions can have consequences'. The two 'unsure' respondents for Video A didn't identify a message but understood the story. In Video B, one said again they were unsure of the message and the other said they didn't think there was one; both respondents described B as more emotional.

Despite describing the events of Videos A and B similarly, the responses to this question show the audience identified the idea of a consequence to an action more in Video B (as hypothesised).

What is the purpose of the animation?

VIDEO A VIDEO B

Again, pretty similar. Multiple people figured out and commented that the abstraction/simplicity of the animation was part of its purpose, and some commented that Video B was more emotional (see word clouds below). One of the responses in the 'other' class for Video B was literally '[the purpose is] To show how little is needed to change the emotions evoked by a simple, short, and abstract animation' which is the big thing I wanted to improve from Video A. (That being said, the second 'other' response for B was 'To teach children about the function and praxis of western police institutions' so I guess not everyone was on the same page.)

VIDEO A VIDEO B

The word clouds show an increase in emotional and personifying language in response to Video B.

The animation would make more sense if...*

VIDEO A VIDEO B

*For answers with multiple suggestions, I treated each as its own response, hence why Video A has more data. 'Actionable' here means permitted by the restrictions of the assessment.

Overall, the audience were able to understand the story in the animations fairly easily, even before it was altered, although Video B was interpreting as having more of a message or lesson. They found B to be more engaging and emotionally resonant.

To me this demonstrates that a piece of media's effectiveness is often largely tied to whether it can trigger an emotional response within the viewer. I was also surprised to see how often different individuals reached a consensus or had very similar responses despite having no interaction with each other.

Comparative Report

In my hypothesis, I described a scenario that was interpreted accurately by most respondents.

Measuring the effectiveness of the behaviourist theories is a little trickier to do, but I would say the fact 55% of respondents felt enough anticipation to register it consciously could be evidence the 'classical conditioning' was successful and helped build tension.

Not everyone explicitly stated that the reason behind the children going outside before playing catch again was a behavioural change made to avoid repeating mistakes, but some did. Most respondents identified the 'parent' triangle as angry because of the accident, and 'guilt' as an emotion portrayed in the story, suggesting some awareness of cause and effect. Some respondents did mention a similar event happening to them or someone on TV.

Media psychology studies the effect media has on us and our relationship to it. Interest in and application of media psychology has grown a lot over recent years with the advent of new technologies and the integration of the Internet and social media as a constant presence in our everyday lives (McAuslan, 2020). The field is constantly developing as the media landscape changes.

The scenario in the video is this: two children are playing catch indoors and accidentally knock over and break a vase or other fragile object. They start panicking. An adult enters and scolds them before cleaning up the mess. The children, having learnt their lesson, move outside before resuming their game.

Classical conditioning: the audience will find the object breaking to be more impactful or unexpected because the video starts with several throws between the children to be successful— they should begin to associate the ball being thrown with it being caught. If the first throw broke the object, it wouldn’t have the same effect, nor would it be as obvious as an accident.

Operant conditioning: the children are conditioned to change their behaviour (playing catch inside) because of consequence (breaking something/being scolded). The audience should understand this cause and effect, and may relate it to a similar occurrence in their own lives.