What aspects of a film make it appeal to you most? How did popular films manage to capture the attention of many people? From sound to color and duration, cinema has evolved throughout history. This art form has developed in order for us to engage with the stories of our own being and our persona. Psychology and cinematography are connected in a way that we tend to overlook in our daily lives.
Connections
Cinema and psychology have always guided each other with their aims and studies. For instance, cinema is turning to psychology to stay closer on the grounds of portraying a realistic society in hopes of reaching a larger audience. Usually, the stronger a movie evokes a particular connection within a person, the more recognition and broadcast it gets.
Different dimensions of cinematic experience result in conceptual variations of the human mind. Every person goes through unique states of mind during and after a movie. Naturally, the contents of the movie play a role in this imagination journey, whether it is a historical tragedy or the story of a not-so-romantic relationship. Cinema also uses certain techniques with the help of color, lighting, and sound in hopes of altering emotional states or even shaping ways of thinking, leaving an emotional impact on the audience and therefore creating the after-movie awe effect.
Lots can be learned about the human mind just by studying the anatomy of a movie. Filmmakers are perhaps the best at grasping and showcasing human behavior, thus helping us delve into the concepts of a character. They try to pick up new methods over time using elements of their current era to make the movie appeal to its target audience, whether it is to tell a story or to simply convey an emotion through the screen.
Many award-winning and “significant” movies commonly portray a character who has psychological challenges or cover even deeper psychological themes. “As it turns out, the Academy Awards are heavily weighted toward films that depict psychological themes. They also seem to place an unusual emphasis on certain types of characters and issues.” Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D., wrote in 2012. Now on to some examples that use psychological elements for a stronger and more impressive storyline:
Silence of The Lambs, Anthony Hopkins
A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe
Black Swan, Natalie Portman
Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon
To keep it short, I won’t go into further detail on these; however, they are all amazing and inspiring movies, and I certainly recommend watching them.
