Abstract
A subset of formal compositional principles was examined in the context of narrative pictorial events. Slide stories were constructed of six common events in which characters were depicted from three camera angles: low angle, eye-level, and high angle. After presentation, subjects evaluated the characters, recalled the stories, and engaged in a recognition task. Camera angle influenced subjects’ evaluation and retention of the stories in accordance with aesthetic principles. Camera angle had significant, predictable effects on judgments of the physical and personal characteristics of the characters, on recall of these characteristics, and on recall of the gist of the stories themselves. Recognition memory for camera angle was significantly less accurate than recognition memory for the characters. Subjects used the available visual information to construct coherent story representations, and, although camera angle strongly influenced the construction of these representations, specific camera angle information became less accessible.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alwit, L. F., Anderson, D. R., Lorch, E P., &Levin, S. R. (1980). Preschool children’s visual attention to attributes of television,Human Communication Research,7, 52–67.
Anderson, D. R., &Smith, R. (1984). Young children’s TV viewing: The problem of cognitive continuity. In F. J. Morrison, C. Lord, & D. P. Keating (Eds.),Applied developmental psychology (pp, 115–163). New York: Academic Press.
Andrew, J. D. (1976). Themajor film theories. New York: Oxford University Press.
Arnheim, R. (1974).An and visual perception. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Baggett, P. (1975). Memory for explicit and implicit information in picture stories.Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,14, 538–548.
Baggett, P. (1979). Structurally equivalent stories in movies and text and the effect of the medium on recallJournal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,18, 333–356.
Ball, V. K. (1965). The aesthetics of color: A review of fifty years of experimentation.Journal of Aesthetics & An Criticism,23, 441–452.
Carroll, J. M., &Bever, T. G. (1976). Segmentation in cinema perception.Science,191, 1053–1055.
Chandler, A., &Barnhart, E. (1938)A bibliography ofphysiological and experimental esthetics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Corbett, E. P. J. (1971).Classical rhetoric for the modem student. New York: Oxford University Press.
Coynik, D. (1974).Movie making. Chicago: Loyola University Press.
Craik, F. I. M., &Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory researchJournal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior,11, 671–684.
Eisenstein, S. (1949).Film form. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Giannetti, L. D. (1982).Understanding movies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Gibson, J. J. (1979).The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Glucksberg, S., &Danks, J. H. (1975).Experimental psycholinguistics: An introduction. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hevner, K. (1935). Experimental studies of the affective value of colors and lines.Journal of Applied Psychology,19, 385–398.
Hochberg, J (1978). Art and perception. In E. C. Carterette & M. P. Friedman (Eds.),Handbook of perception: Vol. 10. Perceptual ecology (pp. 225–258). New York: Academic Press.
Hochberg, J., &Brooks, V. (1978a). Film cutting and visual momentum. In J. W. Senders, D. F. Fisher, & R. A. Monty (Eds.),Eye movements and the higher psychological functions (pp. 293–313). Hillsdale, NJ. Erlbaum.
Hochberg, J., &Brooks, V. (l978b). The perception of motion pictures. In E. C. Carterette & M. P. Friedman (Eds.),Handbook of perception: Vol. 10. Perceptual ecology (pp. 259–304). New York: Academic Press.
Huston, A. c., &Wright, J. C. (1983). Children’s processing of television: The informative functions of formal features. In J. Bryant & D. R. Anderson (Eds.),Children’s understanding of television: Research on attention and comprehension (pp. 35–68). New York: Academic Press.
Huston, A. C., Wright, J. C., Wartella, E., Rice, M. L., Watkins, B. A., Campbell, T., &Potts, R. (1981). Communicating more than content: Formal features of children’s television programs.Journal of Communication,31, 32–48.
Jenkins, J. T., Wald, J., &Pittenger, J. B. (1978). Apprehending pictorial events: An instance of psychological cohesion.Minnesota studies in the philosophy of science (Vol. 9, pp. 129–163). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
Kracauer, S (1960)Theory of film: The redemption of physical reality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kraft, R. N, &Jenkins, J. J (1977). Memory for lateral orientation of shdes in picture stories.Memory & Cogniuon,5, 397–403.
Kraft, R. N., & Jenkins, J. J. (1979, May)Memory for lateral orientation of pictures of familiar objects and events. Paper presented at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.
Kraft, R. N., Patterson, J. F., &Mitchell, N B. (1986). Distance perception photographic displays of natural settings.Perceptual & Motor Skills,62, 179–186
Leibrlch, J., &White, K. G. (1983). Recognition memory for pictorial events.Memory & Cognition,11, 121–128.
Mandler, J M., &Johnson, N. S. (1976). Some of the thousand words a picture is worth.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory,2, 529–540.
Mandler, J. M., &Ritchey, G. H. (1977). Long-term memory for pictures.Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Learning & Memory,3, 386–396.
Mascelli, J. (1965).The five C’s of cinematography. Hollywood: Cine/Graphic Publications.
Metz, C. (1974).Film language: A semiotics of the cinema. New York: Oxford University Press.
Monaco, J. (1981).How to read a film. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nelson, R. P. (1977) Thedesign of advertising, Dubuque, IA: Wm C. Brown.
Osgood, C, Suci, G J , &Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957).The measurement of meaning. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Pittenger, J. B., &Jenkins, J. J. (1979). Apprehension of pictorial events. The case of a moving observer m a stanc environment.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,13, 117–120.
Poore, H. R. (1903).Pictorial composition and the critical judgment of pictures. New York: Baker & Taylor
Pudovkin, V I. (1958).Film technique and film acting. London. Vision Press
Sachs, J. S. (1967). Recognition memory for syntactic and semantic aspects of connected discourse.Perception & Psychophysics,2, 437–442.
Salomon, G. (1974). Internalization of filmic schematic operations m interaction with learners’ aptitudes.Journal of Educational Psychology,66, 499–511.
Salomon, G. (1979).Interaction of media, cognition, and learning, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schachter, S., &Singer, J. (1962). Cognitive, Social, and physiological determinants of emotional state.Psychological Review,69, 379–399
Shoemaker, D. H. (1964). An analysis of the effects of three vertical camera angles and three lighting ratios on the connotative Judgments of photographs of three human models (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1964).Dissertauon Abstracts International,25, 5650.
Soli, S. D., &Balch, W R. (1976). Performance biases and recognition memory for semantic and formal changes in connected discourse.Memory & Cognition,4, 673–676.
Sontag, S. (1977).On photography. New York: Dell.
Spottiswoode, R. (1967).A grammar of the film. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tannenbaum, P. H., &Fosdick, J. A. (1960). The effect of lighting angle on the judgment of photographed subjects.Audio-Visual Communication Review,8, 253–262.
Taylor, J. (1964).Design and expression in the visual arts. New York: Dover.
Wald, J. (1980). Perceiving everyday activities: A characterization of visual information for “who does what to ‘whom’’“ (Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota).Dissertation Abstracts International,41, 2809B
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper was strengthened and clarified by the thoughtful suggestions of James J. Jenkins, Ulric Neisser, and Alice F. Healy.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kraft, R.N. The influence of camera angle on comprehension and retention of pictorial events. Memory & Cognition 15, 291–307 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197032
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197032