For your first blogs, please select one of the following options and post your response as a comment. Remember, you must respond by Sunday, April 29, at 3 p.m. to receive credit.
Option 1): Select and view a drama/action/adventure/horror film (that you have never seen before) and watch it. Every 10 minutes have someone take and record your pulse. Answer the following questions: a) How does your pulse change during the movie? b) Can you indicate at what points (and why) you had a strong or weak physiological reaction to what you were watching? c) What does our body tell us about media effects? Be sure and tell me the name of the movie and incude all your pulse measure in your essay/comments.
Option 2): Observe an individual (someone you know) who is engaged in playing an aggressive, high action (or violent) video game for at least 1 hour (you must not be a participant, only an outside observer--this is important). Make notes on how the game influences his or her behavior and answer the following questions: a) How did his or her demeanor change during the course of the hour? b) How was their behavior different while playing than under normal circumstances (did they say things or act in ways that are not typical)? c) After making the observations, interview the individual to assess his or her thoughts on how he or she may have been physically or emotionally affected. d) Was their an effect?
a)Pulse Rates
ReplyDeletea. 10 minutes: 50 bpm
b. 20 minutes: 55 bpm
c. 30 minutes: 60 bpm
d. 40 minutes: 70 bpm
e. 50 minutes: 60 bpm
f. 1 hour: 60 bpm
g. 1 hour 10 minutes: 70 bpm
h. 1 hour 20 minutes: 70 bpm
I watched the movie Cloverfield on Wednesday night. As the movie opened, I was pretty skeptical that I could get sucked in and allow my heart rate to increase as I kept checking it every ten minutes, interrupting the movie. However, my heart rate increased as the movie progressed. My pulse was definitely affected by certain moments in the movie. I was watching Cloverfield, which is practically an American version of Godzilla. I started with a very low resting rate of 50 bpm, but was up to 70 bpm as the movie ended.
b)Since most movies follow a typical linear narrative, my heart rate increased as the movie was experiencing its “rising action”, culminating with the highest bpm as the climax was happening. After watching the movie for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, I really got sucked in to what I was watching, which resulted in a higher heart rate as I was connecting with the level of suspense and drama.
c)The biggest thing that I took away from all this was a better realization that media, especially movies, have a real physical effect on us. I reacted physically to what I was viewing externally. My heart rate increased, my palms got sweaty, and I tightened up all over my body. This goes to show that at least one part of my brain believed that what I was viewing was real. It was real enough to trigger body functions associated with fear and suspense. After thinking about other experiences I’ve had, I realized that I also have had physical reactions to other genres.
Kristen Shimomiya
ReplyDeleteI asked a high school friend to play video games with his brother while I observed. He accepted, and played Gears of Wars 3 with his brother for one hour. It was interesting to see how they interacted with each other. I think they were little hesitant to say anything rude to each other at the beginning because they knew that I was writing something about them, but as the game progressed, they completely forgot that I was in the same room and started to talk to each other as normal.
a) His demeanor did not change that much, but the his language choice has drastically changed.
b) My friend is such a great and nice guy. He uses appropriate words in a real life, but I know that whenever he plays video games, he uses more aggressive words such as “dude,” “shut up,” “freak,” or “bum.” He never says “dude” or “freak” to people, but apparently, that is his video game language. He is usually very uplifting and personable. When he is playing video games, he competes with his brother and tells him how much better he is. Maybe he talks like that because that is his brother, but when I talk to him about his brother, he always compliments his little brother in a real life.
c) As the time passed by, they tended to move their bodies more instead of sitting still. Their bodies leaned towards the TV more. Also, they talked much louder than the first 30 minutes. They also had to go to a work meeting right after this observation, but it was very hard for them to quit playing and going to the work meeting.
When I interviewed him after the hour of playing the video game, my friend told me that he gets more energized, thrilled and high. A lot of adrenaline pumps through his body and he gets invigorated. He said, “ Playing video game is a good effect in a short run because it is fun and enjoyable; however, there are better things to evoke these feelings, so I don't like to be stuck playing a video game for a long time.”
d) I observed many effects in my friend while he played video games. To me, I feel like he is playing a sport on the chair because he acts very similar when he plays sports.
(a) My pulse:
ReplyDelete10 minutes: 60 bpm
20 minutes: 66 bpm
30 minutes: 60 bpm
40 minutes: 56 bpm
50 minutes: 58 bpm
1 hour: 68 bpm – This moment was a suspenseful scene right before a charge into battle.
1 hour 10 minutes: 58 bpm
1 hour 20 minutes: 58 bpm
1 hour 30 minutes: 64 bpm
1 hour 40 minutes: 60 bpm
1 hour 50 minutes: 62 bpm
2 hours: 64 bpm
(b) My wife received a free Redbox rental for her birthday so we decided to use that to watch Warhorse, a war drama that follows the story of a horse through World War I. The movie was a little disappointing as far as action and story goes so I had a hard time really getting into it, especially when getting my pulse checked every ten minutes. Still, despite the lack of action and quality story line I still saw my heart rate increase during a battle scene at the 1 hour mark. It went up 10 seconds right before they charged into the battle.
(c) Just thinking about other times I’ve watched movies and comparing it to last night’s experience makes me notice how much the media really has had an effect on me. I remember being a little boy and being deeply worried about the upcoming battle against the big boss at the end of my computer game. I also remember being scared out of my mind that the zombies of “I am Legend” were going to jump out of the TV and kill me. So while War Horse didn’t have as strong an influence on my physiology last night, it did make me notice that other media has had a strong effect at other times in my life.
a) Pulse rate (measured for 12 seconds and multiplied by 5)
ReplyDeleteStart - 80
10 - 85
20 - 85
30 - 80
40 - 80
50 - 70
60 - 75
70 - 75
80 - 75
90 - 70
100 - 65
110 - 65
120 - 65
b) My wife and I watched 'Shutter Island' on Netflix together. The movie is classified as a 'thriller', but I would have put it more as a 'mental thriller'. The movie is pretty easy going without a lot of scary or jumpy moments.
We watched the film in bed, and so I think that's one reason my heart rate was decreasing for most of the film. I think my heart rate was up in the beginning because we had just gotten back from hiking.
The film itself was pretty good. What I felt though was that the tense moments came in the middle of the 10 minute intervals, and so if my heart rate did go up it would have had a chance to come down. While my heart was decreasing through out the film, I definitely noticed that my body was tense during the whole move.
c) I think that films/media can have an effect on our bodies. I know in other action/horror films that I've watched I've for sure felt my adrenaline levels rise. With mental thrillers, like 'Shutter Island', I think that people wouldn't see their heart rates rise rather they would maybe see a rise in blood pressure.
Pulse Rates:
ReplyDeleteStart: 78 bpm
10 min: 78 bpm
20 min: 72 bpm
30 min: 72 bpm
40 min: 78 bpm
50 min: 78 bpm
60 min: 66 bpm
70 min: 84 bpm
80 min: 84 bpm
90 min: 72 bpm
a) I watched the Bourne Ultimatum, a great action filled movie. Because I had to take my pulse every ten minutes, it felt like the movie was a little interrupted, and I wasn’t able to get fully into the movie. My pulse stayed about the same through the first part of the movie, fluctuating a little. Towards the end, it jumped up dramatically relative to the other times. My heart rate increased during the more intense parts of the movie, and by the end, my pulse was back down to about where it was when I started.
b) My heart rate jumped up with about twenty minutes left in the movie. This was during the last final chase and fight scene, one of the more intense parts of the movie. Even though the entire movie is action-filled, my pulse only really reacted to the climax part of the movie.
c) This showed me some of the real effects media, movies especially, can have on us. Some may say that movies have no effect on them, but something like a heart rate is solid proof that they do in some way. This shows that we need to be aware of how much media is truly affecting us.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had asked a relative of mine if I would be able to watch him play Modern Warfare 3 through Xbox Live. This really wasn’t anything different than what I would normally do because he is an avid player of the game and will spend several hours per week playing Xbox live online. During the course of the game it is interesting how his demeanor changes and his attitude reflects the fast paced nature of the game.
ReplyDeleteA+B) In the course of the hour he has a very strong mood change. No longer are his interactions with his wife or with me really engaging. Simple one or two word responses are all we get out of him when the subject is about how his day is or how he is doing. As I have come home from school in the past and have stopped to see him play the game, it is interesting to see that he give me the same questions worded the same way with the same responses and little variance. He will only give us long responses when we would ask questions relating to the game. All of his actions are consumed by the game at times. During the course of watching him, food was being prepared for dinner and he was unwilling to stop and eat but rather he wanted to finish the game. Because of the quick pace of the game and the attitude of those that he was playing with, there was an added sense of aggression toward those around him. What could be considered displacement from a psychological standpoint, I was able to see this frustration he had toward those within the game placed upon myself and especially upon my cousin’s spouse. He would say certain things that would shock her and I.
C) My cousin was under the impression that he was not acting very differently physically or emotionally. He believed that he was rather extremely focused on the tasks being performed in the game and was willing to do anything he could possibly do in order to achieve said tasks.
D) After speaking with him about his attitude and having his wife there to reinforce the aggressive nature of his actions, we were able to help him understand that there was indeed a change in behavior and physical demeanor. He was more aggressive, his eye never left the screen and he was willing to forego eating and conversation with those who were with him for those within the online gaming community.
A) I watched the film "Green Lantern," a supposed science fiction-action film that I had never seen before. The following were my pulse rates:
ReplyDeleteBase: 70
10 mins: 68
20 mins: 68
30 mins: 68
40 mins: 68
50 mins: 68
60 mins: 74
70 mins: 68
80 mins: 67
90 mins: 67
100 mins: 65
A) My pulse started slightly high, and then stayed pretty constant until about half way through when it jumped up and then came back down and slowed slightly until the end. This movie had several small action points rather than the huge overall rise and fall of the plot.
B) I had small to no reactions throughout almost the entire movie. However, at 60 minutes it was an intense part of the movie for me, and besides my own feelings, that was also clearly reflected in the pulse rate. The rest of the movie had intense parts, but I found that the ten minute increments didn’t fall within the intense parts of the movie. My stats would probably better reflect the physiological change if my pulse was being recorded over the course of the entire movie.
C) As I was reflecting on the stats of my pulse, I was thinking it was slightly odd that it didn’t reflect more of the change I was expecting. I was hoping that I would be able to clearly see what parts of the movie affected me. I then had to acknowledge that different media probably plays a different effect on people. My cousin made a remark at the end of the movie saying, “We should have watched Pride and Prejudice, your heart would have been racing.” And you know, I think she is right. While action movies can be intense—they are probably more so for people who are really interested in action movies. Because the sci-fi action movie didn’t appeal to me quite as much, it would make sense that my pulse would reflect that. I would be interested in trying this again with a chick flick rather than an action film.
Chase Lucero
ReplyDeleteToday I had a buddy who had as part of his bachelor’s party a big Halo party bash. They hooked up four different consoles and had a big tournament. I used this time to do a little experimentation. I told them I was just going to watch for a little bit before I started playing. So for the first hour I just watched as everyone began to play. There were four people in each room, so I just stayed in one room and observed one specific group.
These four players all seemed to start off pretty calm. Although they were all calm they were also pretty excited to play (they hadn’t played in a long time). As the time carried on it was evident that these players had become a little higher strung. For instance, at the beginning of the experiment they were not as critical of the other players as they were towards the end. Whether it be another player or their own personal mistake they began to be more critical and began to voice their opinion more frequently when something occurred that was not what they had desired.
I feel at times I might have been biased because I had expectations of what was to occur before they had even started. Although I had these initial opinions, the results eventually confirmed these suspicions.
Another thing that I thought was interesting was how much more intense each player became. Upon the commencement of this event all of the players were alert and sitting up straight- they were ready to play! But, as the game moved on and the time ticked away they slowly moved to the very edge of their seats, hands were gripped a little tighter to the controllers, and hands were sweatier (later commented by my friend)
As I talked to my friend later and ask him what his thoughts were in respect to playing such an active game he agreed with what I had observed. He stated that those were normal reactions to having played such an intense video game. He mentioned how when you start playing you just get wrapped in the moment and you get hooked into wanting to win and in result not die. “It gets nerve-racking” he said. You have to be aware of everything and you have to make sure that you are always ahead.
He also stated that there is a definite personality change and an adrenaline rush. He thought that this may occur because you’re playing with real people so the outcomes are always unexpected. Due to this element of surprise, you are held anxious and restless throughout the entire experience.
In conclusion, video games have a substantial affect on the feelings, attitudes, and actions of those who are involved.
Spencer Cornett
ReplyDeleteI watched the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and my pulse measurements as well as what i was watching at the time they were taken were as follows:
Base: 60 bpm
10 minutes: 80 bpm- Ms. Adler and the bad guy are talking in a restaurant
20minutes: 64 bpm- We meet Sherlock’s brother
30 minutes: 68 bpm- Sherlock fighting an assassin- and down time
40 minutes:84 bpm- Sherlock and the bad guy (Professor James Moriarty) meet for the first time
50 minutes: 72- Sherlock and Watson are on a train after a huge fight with Moriarty’s men
60 minutes: 68- bpm Transition from Sherlock’s brother and Mrs Watson to the gypsies sneaking into a place
70 minutes: 72- Investigating a bombing
80 minutes:76- Holmes speaking with sharpshooter in factory
90 minutes: 72- Holmes and co. running through trees with gunfire all around slow motion
100 minutes: 64- Holmes and co. are in a ballroom dancing and talking
110 minutes: 56- Chess game between Holmes and Morairty as the “game” comes to a close
120 minutes: 64- End of movie, thought he was dead, but Sherlock comes back
A: I was surprised to notice that my pulse rate, though it changed quite a bit during the movie, was actually at its highest in tense rather than intense moments. Before performing this task I was positive that my pulse would be racing during fighting scenes and high-octane action, but it seems like that was not the case.
B: When looking at when my pulse was highest, I think that since Sherlock Holmes is a man of intellect and these movies are always brain teasers, that is why I was so affected by the moments where Sherlock and Moriarty meet or when we first meet Moriarty in the beginning of the film. I am very confused why this same pattern did not emerge at the end of the film during the final conflict between Moriarty and Holmes, but that could be because by the time the movie ended I was much more fatigued than when we started. Other things I noticed were that during down time in the film I was relatively calm.
C: I am not quite sure what my body tells me about media effects here. I am not sure if my reactions were consistent enough to show that the film really did have a major effect on me. I think that a much more suitable model for this exercise would have been to take the pulse at different intervals (not just ten minutes) and to have a more accurate measure of arousal other than just pulse (not only are there other factors that play into a pulse rate, but a few times my helper couldn’t even find mine.) I can say that I was surprised how it wasn’t violence that affected me nearly as much as tense interpersonal situations regarding the main characters of the film.
Option #1:
ReplyDeleteMelanie Jones
Movie: The Bourne Identity
Pulse:
Start - 72
10 - 72
20 - 75
30 - 79
40 - 79
50 - 84
60 - 85
70 - 87
80 - 85
90 - 83
100 - 84
110 - 84
120 - 83
Surprisingly, my heart rate is fairly high normally. Which worries me because I run regularly and try to live an active life... Any way, I chose an action movie because horror or thriller type movies are way too much for me to handle. The action movie I watched is called ‘The Bourne Identity.’ Over all it is a well done movie but it still scared me at some parts. Which is clear by looking at my pulse records. Stopping the movie to check my heart rate every 10 minutes caused me to stay more distant from the story than usual. I get sucked into movies pretty easily so they usually have a big effect on me. Hence why I steer clear of anything horror related. I would guess that my pulse would have been even higher if I didn’t stop the movie every 10 minutes.
Anytime anyone in the movie is in danger my whole body tenses up. I feel less sorry for the bad guys but I still can stand to watch people getting hurt so I get really nervous and scared for the characters on the screen whenever they are put in a tight spot. Mr. Jason Bourne seemed to almost always be in a tight spot thus I was rather tense during 80% of the movie. Also, I like to always be aware of my surroundings and whenever one is in a dark location that is near impossible to do. Action movies always include a dark corner or hallway or tunnel or city street (all of which where in The Bourne Identity) that also make me nervous. It is really hard to say exactly which parts made an impact on me because I would have to script the whole movie...
I have been aware that media has a big impact on my for quite some time. Due to this fact I know which kinds of media that I personally need to avoid. There is no amount of money that someone can pay me that will make me watch a twisted, demented, horror film. Won’t do it. I know that I can’t handle it and frankly I don’t want to dull myself into being about to handle it. There are even a bunch of action movies that make me antsy. Any movie with lots of action makes me anxious to know the ending and puzzle everything together but it also makes me jumpy and scared. During The Bourne Identity my roommate came up behind me to ask me a question and I jumped off the couch because it scared me so bad. Normally this wouldn’t have scared me but due to the media I was currently consuming I was quite literally on edge.
I sent you this in an email the day before the due date, but I wanted to make sure you recorded it as turned in. So here is my blog post. :)
ReplyDeleteSara Anderson
As I watched the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: on Stranger Tides, I realized the Pirates movies include much more fighting than I realized. I recognized this because as I took notes of what was occurring in the movie every 10 minutes, I found sword fighting was the majority of the movie.
My average resting heart rate is 71 bpm (beats per minute). At the opening 10 minutes of the movie, my heart rate was 70 bpm. The second time I checked my pulse, my heart rate increased to 72 bpm because the action intensified with a sword fight and chasing scene. The third time I checked my pulse, the sword fighting had continued and my heart rate went up to 78 bpm. A sailor died in the next ten minutes increasing my heart rate to 80 bpm. Then, the movie slowed down in pace which dropped my heart rate to 66 bpm. The movie continued at a slower pace decreasing my heart rate to 60 bpm. Then, in the next ten minutes, enemies faced each other in a tense moment which increased my heart rate to 78 bpm. Then, in the next ten minutes, characters were planning an attack which kept my heart rate slightly higher, making my heart rate 79 bpm. At the climatic point when 3 enemies face each other, my heart rate went up to 100 bpm. Apparently, I was excited. Then, ten minutes later, the plot continues to a one-on-one fighting scene, decreasing my heart rate to 86 bpm. In the last ten minutes of the movie which featured characters talking softly, my heart rate went down to 67 bpm.
My pulse increased as the scenes intensified and decreased as the plot and action slowed down. My physiological reactions were high during the fighting scenes because of the action and unsurety of the outcome. I believe our bodies really are affected by the media we watch. This is apparent from my results. My heart rate increased during the fighting scenes and my heart rate decreased during the moments of soft talking and little action.
My notes:
Resting pulse: 71 bpm
opening- 70 bpm
sword fight- 72 bpm
more sword fighting- 78 bpm
sailor death- 80bpm
slower part of the movie and soft singing- 66 bpm
slower part of the movie- 60 bpm
enemies facing each other in a tense moment- 78 bpm
plotting attack- 79 bpm
finding fountain- climatic point- 100 bpm
fighting scene- 86 bpm
talking softly- 67 bpm
Andrea Wise
ReplyDeleteOption 2
I chose to watch somebody play video games for an hour and I was surprised to see how the video game affected this person. This person was playing the video game called Halo and he seemed to get more and more competitive as the time went on. He does not like to loose in this game, so whoever he is playing better watch out. He loves to go around and just shoot everyone. His ego seems to get very big during this game. As the time went by this person began to get very aggressive and snappy with people. Normally this person is very willing to help me with things, but when I asked for some help putting a heavy box away he snapped and said i would have to wait till he was done. When I interviewed him about his mood afterwards, he did not think that the video game had affected him at all. He thought that he had told me nicely to wait till he was done to help me with a box. He really had no idea how his mood had changed. When he was done playing video games the aggression stayed with him for a little while. It took a couple hours for him to get back to normal. During those couple hours he had a hard time focusing. He actually was helping to make dinner and he had cut himself, which he has never done before. There definitely was an effect on this person's mood and behavior. Luckily he does not play video games very often.