Experimental Question:
How does the way people observe things affect their emotions?
Recipe:
For the part of refining in Task Two, I left three questions I would like to have a further research. I chose the last one as the fundamental to explore for Task Three deeper, which is about the inner link between photos and the viewer’s emotions.
The photography is the most suitable way to explore this question because photos are stillness, so it is easier for the viewers to have a deeper observation of the elements and to get their emotions through looking at photos. Moreover, for the experimental, I will pay more attention to what the viewers notice for the first glance, therefore, by comparing with other media methods (audios, videos, clips), I prefer to use the stillness images to have a further research.
Ingredients:
- iPhone (for taking photos)
- Select a certain location which is indoor (Royal Arcade)
Methods:
STEP 1: Choose ‘Royal Arcade’ as the position I would research on.
STEP 2: Design a questionnaire and ask some volunteers:
-What elements are you find in these photos?
-What are the difference and similarities between these photos?
-How do you feel when you look at these photos?
STEP 3: Collect and compare their response to come up with a new question.
Reflections:
For the first question that I asked the volunteers, I found the subjects with the higher frequency of occurrence, have more chances to attract the viewers’ attention. For example, from the responses, ‘stores, people, floors and lights’ are the answers that appear frequently. Therefore, I think these subjects which grab their attention might affect people’s emotion to the place.
In task two, the place I went to is Royal Arcade, I took two groups of photos. The first one is about ‘elephant’ theme and the second group is without the ‘elephant’ doll, so I chose to use the second group of photos to do the further research. I selected some photos that took in the same place as the material of questionnaire, fortunately, I got the expected answer for the second question. From the responses, most of the volunteers noticed that I took photos at the same place but from different angles. Some of the respondents also mentioned these photos affects their emotions, such as one respondent said: ‘The first photo seems a bit fuzzy, and the other photos look brighter and therefore more beautiful. ‘
For the last question, I focused on people’s feeling/emotion. From the responses, I found people’s first emotion always depends on the feelings the first thing they noticed brings to them. For example, one respondent states, ‘the hallway gave the photos an extending visual effect, made the exit look very far away.’ Based on the statement, the photos bring him a sense of distance because of the hallway. However, another respondent would have trypophobia because the floor tiles that make her crazy. It is obvious that the floor tiles grab her attention at the largest extent, and causes she does not like Royal Arcade.
I think the feedback from the questionnaire is a good solution to the question I asked. From the feedback and reflection, I think people prefer to notice the things that appear more frequently and the things they notice would decide their feelings and emotions to a great extent.
For experimental two, I would like to have a deeper research on the relationship between the different angles of photos and the things that people notice. In the experimental one, most of the volunteers found the difference among the photos is the perspectives/angles. To combine the second question and the third one, I wonder if the different perspectives of a certain subject may affect people’s noticing so that affect their emotions.
In addition, thanks to Hannah’s suggestion in the studio, the questionnaire is a good way to collect information, but the questions I ask could be more specific and needs to relate to the experimental closely. Her suggestion gave me a hint, maybe I can ask the respondents some easy questions based on the surface of photos and then lead them to have deeper thoughts.
Media:
