Deconstructing the horror. Film analysis to reduce the impact of seeing real violence

Authors

Ainara Miguel Sáez de Urabain Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5020-2215
Ainhoa Fernández de Arroyabe Olaortua University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5565-7371
Sergio Monge Benito University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
Virginia Guillén Cañas University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3038-8953
Leire Azkunaga García University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8747-2614

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2023-1823

Keywords:

media literacy; film analysis; real violence videos; neuroscience; ISIS; DAESH propaganda., Media Literacy, Film analysis, Real violence videos, Neuroscience, ISIS, DAESH, Propaganda

Abstract

Introduction: This work aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the film analysis of A Message to America, the first video of beheadings of ISIS, as a media literacy tool to reduce the anxiety, and the emotional and cognitive impact (unconscious and conscious reactions) that these videos of real violence provoke in young people. Methodology: For this, 80 volunteers were recruited from first-year communication students at the UPV/EHU and divided into two homogeneous groups of 40. Group A watched an educational video about the film analysis of A Message to America, group B did not. Later, all the participants watched another video of the ISIS’ decapitations, and their viewing was monitored to record their state of anxiety before and after the experiment (using the STAI/E questionnaire), and their physiological (HRV and EDA) and cognitive responses (using an ad hoc questionnaire). Discussion and results: The results show that exposure to the film analysis of A Message to America does not attenuate the anxiety or emotional impact that these videos of executions produce in students, but it does reduce their cognitive impact and improve their understanding and interpretation, while empirically testing the correspondence between the audiovisual resources of the video and the physiological reactions of the viewer. Conclusions: The experiment confirms the suitability of film analysis to educate the eye in the contemporary audiovisual context.

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Author Biographies

Ainara Miguel Sáez de Urabain, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU

Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/ Universidad del País Vasco

With a degree in Information Sciences (1998) and a Ph.D. (2006) from the UPV/EHU, Ainara Miguel Sáez de Urabain is an associate professor and the coordinator of the Degree in Audiovisual Communication at the same university, where she teaches subjects related to visual studies and is a member of the consolidated research group of the Basque Government, Mutaciones del Audiovisual Contemporáneo (MAC). Previously, she worked at the Universidad de Burgos for six years. During this time, she has published thirty articles and book chapters, and two books on photography. She is interested in media education and the representation of issues such as alterity or violence, and her lines of research focus, above all, on the analysis of audiovisual texts.

Ainhoa Fernández de Arroyabe Olaortua, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/ Universidad del País Vasco

Associate professor in the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising of the UPV/EHU. Member of the consolidated research group of the Basque Government, Mutaciones del Audiovisual Contemporáneo (MAC), specialized in visual studies and whose lines of work are: history of cinema, aesthetics, and film and audiovisual analysis, as well as educommunication. She has published articles in scientific journals such as Historia y Comunicación Social, Comunicar, Cuadernos.info, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, or Communication and Society, among others, and is the co-author of four books, two of them in Cátedra (2016 and 2019), and two others in Comunicación social (2014) and University of Nevada Press (2018).

Sergio Monge Benito, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/ Universidad del País Vasco

He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising and Public Relations (2001), a Ph.D. in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising (2007), and a Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2018). He is an Associate Professor at the UPV/EHU (2016) and the director of the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising (2020- ). His main lines of research are related to digital communication (social networks, influencers, digital marketing, e-commerce) and neuromarketing (application of neuroscience techniques to market research). He teaches the subjects of Digital Marketing and Communication and Advertising: Persuasive Strategies.

Virginia Guillén Cañas, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/ Universidad del País Vasco

Associate Professor with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the EHU/UPV where she teaches Psychology and Communication in Medicine and Dentistry degrees. She is a researcher in the Department of Health and the Biscay Mental Health Network, participating in different health and mental health projects of a socio-health nature: First psychotic episodes, Serious Mental Disorder, Suicide, Chronicity Recovery, Sports, and integration. She has experience in the Drug Addiction Prevention Area in Programs to promote communication skills and resilience. In the Women's Area, she has worked as a Trainer within the Equal Opportunities Plan. She has collaborated as a therapist at ONCE, in the Intensive Eating Disorder Care Program at Hospital Santiago, and at AIDATU (Basque Association of Suicidology).

Leire Azkunaga García, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/ Universidad del País Vasco

She has a Ph.D. in Audiovisual Communication (2021) from the Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU. Currently, she is a professor in the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the same university and in collaboration with the Mutaciones del Audiovisual Contemporáneo (MAC) research group. Taking film analysis as a starting point, she focuses her studies in the field of communication, especially in the analysis of aesthetics, violence, and the impact that fiction generates on viewers.

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2023-01-02

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Miguel Sáez de Urabain, A., Fernández de Arroyabe Olaortua, A., Monge Benito, S., Guillén Cañas, V., & Azkunaga García, L. (2023). Deconstructing the horror. Film analysis to reduce the impact of seeing real violence. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (81), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2023-1823

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