Artefact 3 - Aim & Plan

The aim of Artefact 3 is to find out whether the content within a therapeutic audiovisual piece or the style of the piece contributes more to inducing a relaxed state in the viewer.

This objective has come from the conclusions I made for Artefacts 1 and 2:

Artefact 1

• Confirmed the initial assumption, but the most influential element could not be determined
• Both calming visual elements and audio elements were relaxing to the viewers, however, which one had the greatest effect was not clear

Artefact 2

• Disproved the original assumption that sound would have a greater ability to calm the viewer
• Although it was evident that the visual elements had a stronger influence, whether or not the style or content that made the greatest contribution to calming the viewer was not certain

It is crucial to this study to deconstruct the aspects of audiovisual material piece by piece so as to gain the understanding of what elements should be emphasized in a format for therapeutic media. In order to do this, I plan on changing the edits of the sections from the Artefact 1 clip. By creating both a clip that has a relaxing style but not relaxing content, and one that has calming content but is not edited in a relaxing style and comparing these results, it will be evident whether the style or content would play a bigger role in treating anxiety.

Artefact 2 - Conclusions

Here are the conclusions about Audiovisual Therapy that were made from Artefact 2:

1. The visual elements have a slightly greater potential to induce a more relaxed state in the viewer.

- When designing a format for a piece that can treat anxiety, more emphasis should be placed on the content of the visuals.

2. When the audio and visual elements are combined, the degree to which the viewer feels relaxed increases.

- Although visuals seem to have a more profound effect, the use of sound is still important.

3. No apparent gender difference.

- Females seem to rate slightly higher, however not enough to be significant.

4. Age might be important.

- The level of relaxation reached seems to decrease with age.

- Younger participants may be more easily influenced.

Artefact 2 - Report

Below is my report for Artefact 2:

Introduction

After obtaining the results from Artefact 1, it was clear that although the visuals, sound, and narrative had a calming effect on the viewer, which element was the most influential factor was unclear. In order to tackle this problem, the aim of Artefact 2 was to reveal whether imagery or sound has the greatest potential to aid the viewer in reaching a more relaxed state.

Method

For this artefact, the sound and visuals from Artefact 1 were separated. The participants were then split into three groups of ten. Through YouTube, the first group only watched the video and the second group only listened to the music. The third group however, watched the original clip. The participants were then asked to rate the degree to which they felt relaxed on a scale of 1 - 10 as well as to provide their age and gender.

Results

The initial assumption was that sound would have a more profound effect than the visuals. This belief was invalidated by the results. The average rating from the visual group was 6.1 while the audio group gave an average rating of 5.1. Although, with an average rating of 6.9, the results from the third group show that when combined, the relaxing effect of each element is increased. These results imply that the visual aspect of a therapeutic piece would be more influential, but sound would also play a significant role in aiding the treatment process. Additionally, there did not seem to be a significant difference between gender ratings, however the ratings seem to drop with age.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the results from this artefact imply that more emphasis should be placed on the content and style of the imagery, however in order to achieve a more reliable experiment, a more controlled environment would need to be used.

Artefact 2 - Re-Edit

For this artefact, I have not needed to obtain any more footage, however I re-edited Artefact 1 (see previous post @ Artefact 1 Post). This re-edit simply involved removing the first section of the clip, then separating the audio from the video.

In all, I plan on using three clips in the study. One audio clip, one video clip, and one containing the original edit of the nature scene. This way I will be able to deduce which element has the strongest effect and if the effect is increased when the two are combined.

Artefact 2 - Aim & Plan

For my second artefact as part of my Audiovisual Therapy study, I intend to find out whether audio elements or visual elements have a stronger calming effect on the viewer.

This is due to the conclusions I made and the feedback I received for the first artefact:

Artefact 1

• Confirmed the initial assumption, but the most influential element could not be determined
• Both calming visual elements and audio elements were relaxing to the viewers, however, which one had the greatest effect was not clear

Finding out which element has the greatest potential to induce a more relaxed state in the viewer is significant in designing a format for a therapeutic audiovisual piece. In order to make this distinction, I plan to separate the audio from the visuals and test their relaxing effects independently of each other.

Artefact 1 - Conclusions

These are the conclusions that I have made as a result of the findings of Artefact 1:

1. The experiment was an overall success and confirmed that Audiovisual Therapy material can be used to induce a relaxed state in a viewer, however it is more effective some than others due to personal preferences.

2. The edit needs to feel more like an actual experience of taking a journey.

3. The first section of the clip needs to be more personal and engaging, rather than simply observing the crowds of people.

4. Suggestive messages may increase the effectiveness by asking the viewer to contemplate what they are seeing and how it relates to their life.

Artefact 1 - Report

Introduction

The intended effect of Artefact 1 was to take the viewer on a visual journey from the city to a quiet place in nature, while using sound to enhance the therapeutic outcome. By mentally moving away from the “concrete jungle”, where the senses are over-stimulated, and moving towards being isolated in nature, the viewer is able to reach a more relaxed state.

Method

To achieve the visual experience, urban scenes were presented before gradually moving towards a more natural environment. In order to recreate over-stimulation of the senses in the city environment, quick shots and fast time lapses were used over several ambient city soundtracks. On the other hand, to enhance the calming effect of the slow, fading nature shots, healing music producer Osho’s “New Day” was used as the background music.

Results

Overall, the results from 20 participants confirmed the initial assumption. When asked what was thought/felt during the separate sections, the findings were in line with their objectives (Appendix A). However, in response to being asked how much it felt like a journey, most chose “moderately” or “slightly”, which may have negatively affected the effectiveness of the treatment (Figure 1). Additionally, 72% said the music was calming, but one response pointed out that personal preference might affect the result (Appendix B). Although these results are beneficial, the main contributing factor is that before the viewing participants were asked what best describes their current state of mood. 54.2% of the participants were in an anxious state and 42.8% were in a relaxed state (Figure 2). After the video , 13.6% were anxious and 72.7% relaxed (Figure 3). These findings show that the video influenced the viewers in a calming way.

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite confirming the preliminary postulation, due to the use of too many elements, the degree to which each has benefited the viewer is unknown.

Artefact 1 - Final Edit

Below is the final edit for Artefact 1. I was able to include both sections and reduce the duration to 3 and a half minutes. Overall I am quite happy with the effect, specifically the second half of the clip. Concerning the first clip, it was especially difficult to get the feeling of being taken on a journey. I feel as though this aspect is lacking in both sections, however this might be fixed by using a character of some sort in the edit and have the viewer following them on a journey, as opposed to trying to induce the feeling of traveling from a busy city to a quiet place in nature.

Artefact 1

Artefact 1 - Capture and Edit

The footage ended up to be over two hours of tape. Therefore I didn't get to do as much editing as I had hoped. I did however cut out all of the footage that won't be used and render the time lapses.

At the moment there is 15 minutes of footage that would be good to use in the edit, so it's going to be hard to choose what to include. Also, the footage for the natural setting section of the clip doesn't look as picturesque as I had hoped due to the Winter season. However, the sun was out and made some of the shots look fairly Summery which I'm happy about.