FILM AND EMOTION

Towards a Psychological Theory of Close-ups: Experiencing Intimacy and Threat

The paper offers a functionalist perspective on cinema. It does not suffice to describe textual features without the awareness of how these function in co-operation with cultural-psychological-behavioral structures in the spectator. It is the experience of cinema that a reception study seeks to elucidate. It is maintained that threat and intimacy are two universally widespread spectatorial effects of close-ups. A possible explanation of these effects might be found in the theory of personal space. In social psychology, personal space refers to an intimate sphere surrounded by every individual’s regulating distance, which influences our behavior in interpersonal situations. This behavioral pattern is said to have two functions: protective and communicative.

The protective function ensures that an intrusion into personal space is treated as a warning of potential threats and generates protective behavior (backing off, leaving the situation). The communicative function refers to the speaker’s ability to manipulate the distance during conversation (for example, let someone into his/her intimate space) as a way to flag desire for deeper involvement and intimacy. It is maintained that these functions of personal space correlate in many ways with the two functions of close-ups: the close-up evokes socio-psychological processes similar to a real interpersonal situation. This theory is substantiated by a series of close-ups chosen from a wide spectrum of genres. It is concluded that some cinematic conventions (such as close-ups) are not totally arbitrary. They are designed with careful consideration of the socio-psychological makeup of the spectator in order to produce specific effects.

ANALYTIC CONTENTS OF THE PAPER:
Introduction; Threat; Intimacy; Personal space; Close-up effects and personal space; Conclusions.

Per Persson