Laura Mikelevičiūtė
Part 2

I and my colleague Julija are working on a study called  “Cinematography has a positive impact on people’s tolerance”. I have read 5 articles and analyzed a particular aspect regarding the extent cinematography influences people's pain tolerance. 

KEY TERMS

·         Pain tolerance-  is the maximum level of pain that a person is able to tolerate. Pain tolerance is distinct from pain threshold (the point at which pain begins to be felt).

·         Extreme close up – it is a shot very close to the object. It is traditionally used in film to allow viewer to enter the character‘s intimate space, revealing certain characteristics and emotions that would otherwise go unnoticed from afar.

·         Medium long shot- A value of framing that almost shows the full subject; also known as plan américain.

·         Entertainment media - media that entertains people, like television and films.

·         Endorphins - any of a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and having a number of physiological functions. They are peptides which activate the body's opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect.

·         Cinematography - the art of photography and camerawork in film-making.

                                            MULTI-PARAGRAPH SUMMARY

    I have read 5 articles about cinematography impact on people's pain tolerance and it seems that influence of the media is insanely huge both on the physical and mental part of a human. Almost every article about this particular (cinematography impact on people's pain tolerance) theme stated the same– cinematography does have impact on pain tolerance indeed.

The extend of the impact depends on a genre of a movie. For example, a good comedy makes people laugh and makes our body to start a process of releasing endorphins – feel-good chemicals, which increases pain tolerance. But it is less clear why people watch emotional dramas. This question ‘haunted‘  Robin Dunbar, professor at Oxford University, who had an idea how to find out this. The test was done by the team from Oxford university with the wall-sit test, in which people take an unsupported sitting position with their back against the wall and hold it as long as possible. The two volunteer groups did the test before and after the viewing. One group watched an emotional movie about a disabled child, while the others watched documentary series. All in all, those who had the   greatest emotional response also had the greatest increase in pain threshold and the greater their sense of being bonded with their group. The first group of people could hold the uncomfortable position 13,1 % longer (average) than the audience of documentary series. So even if a body does not release endorphins, it is somehow able to react to the emotions and it increases the pain tolerance. So scientists have shown that watching films that reduce you to tears may increase your threshold for pain and boost feel-good chemicals in the brain.  

Moreover, other research shows that different kinds of cinematic techniques add aditional layers of meaning, nuance and emotional context that can make influence to pain tolerance and even the way of thinking. This research was made by cinematograper Marijike Vankets. She and her colleagues have discussed about shooting a frame and had a row how to shoot it correctly. And therefore, they shooted it in two different ways and prepared the questionnaires for the viewers to complete. The frame size rule was proved again - Extreme close up shot was much more moving the audience than Medium long shot. This test proved that even a slight change of the frame makes different influence on people's pain tolerance. So cinematographers are like  psychologists – they can manipulate your emotions, but that is the magic of cinema – not to think and just relax.