The relationship of pixel parallax to audience emotional response

Abstract

This paper addresses questions surrounding the placement of characters and the conversion point in stereoscopic film scenes based on proxemics as described by E.T. Hall. “Man's evolution has been marked by the development of the "distance receptors"-sight and hearing. Thus he has been able to develop the arts which employ these two senses to the virtual exclusion of all the others.” [1] “The portrait, he says, is distinguished from any other sort of painting by psychological nearness, which "depends directly on the actual physical interval- the distance in feet and inches between the model and the painter."”[1] quoting from [2] There is a distinct relationship between the distance between people and their emotional response to each other, a relationship that is also felt in art. As opposed to two dimensional films, stereoscopic films work in all three directions and as such a study into proxemics reveals the emotional consequences of character placement decisions. By being informed through proxemics it is expected that stereographers and directors will be guided to creating stereoscopic productions that best exploit these innate aspects of our humanness.