Neuromarketing Used to Measure Horror Film Fear

In the US, MindSign Neuromarketing - which measures consumer brain responses to ads - has been tasked by film producer Peter Katz with determining the degree of fear caused by certain scenes in his latest horror movie, 'Pop Skull'.

During the experiment, researchers analyzed scans to identify when the viewer's amygdale - the part of the brain associated with a number of emotions, including fear - was activated.

For two sessions of 48 seconds and 68 seconds, the participant watched two scenes from the movie while being scanned in an MRI scanner. The data was then converted into a 'BrainMovie' and analyzed by the MindSign Neuromarketing team.

During one scene designed to get audiences to jump out of their seats, test subjects registered fear on the brain scan, but also showed just as much fear in the sequence that led up to that moment. Analyzing the resulting data, the firm says it was able to pinpoint the exact moments when the subject's brain experienced fear.

Katz is using the technology to understand how people experience his movies, and says that while 'neurocinema' is still in its early stages, it could change the way films are made in the future and result in more interesting movies.

He added that using this technology should help film directors to identify scenes that don't work and adjust them to 'truly entertain the audience'.

Web site: www.mindsignonline.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.