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the psychological-emotional and narrative-related film experiences the
recipients had (Balint, Tan & Doicaru, 2014). Oliver and Hartmann (2017)
also undertook a questionnaire-based investigation of film experience, asking
their subjects (n = 271) why a film was particularly meaningful or enjoyable
for them. Analysis revealed that melodrama and comedy were the genres
most frequently cited. The respondents provided self-reflections from which
the researchers were able to identify basic emotion types. It was found that
the most identifiable emotions when watching a film were happiness and
sadness, but feelings of compassion and anger were also identifiable from
the responses (Oliver & Hartmann, 2010).
The expression narrative transport refers to the phenomenon through which
the narrative transports the recipient into another mental sphere, placing them
within the storyworld at the time of reception. During such an experience,
the receiver forgets the space-time relations of his or her real environment.
The phenomenon is based on the cognitive (i.e., attentional and imaginative)
and emotional processes of the receiver, which can be measured by the 15¬
item, 7-point Likert scale questionnaire entitled the Transportation Scale
(Green & Brock, 2000). The degree of transportation can be influenced by a
wide range of background variables related to the recipient (e.g., biological
and sociocultural factors), as well as by narrative elements of the text (e.g.,
techniques of plot development or character portrayal). Experiencing through
transportation and identifying with the protagonist can also lead to changes
in the recipient's attitudes and beliefs (Fitzgerald & Green, 2017). Immersion
in the storyworld was investigated in a large sample (n = 500) by Dixon and
Bortolussi (2017), who asked participants questions about their most recently
read novel. A structural model of the responses revealed that the emotional
response during reading influenced narrative transport, and the generation of
emotional response was strongly related to the extent to which the readings
were connected to the recipient’s personal memories and the extent to which
the storyworld felt realistic.
The ability to recognize words, control eye movement and manage the
functions of the reading center present in the left hemisphere are all biological
prerequisites for immersion in literary texts. However, many more areas of
the brain are activated during reading, including the performance of complex
operations such as recognizing words, interpreting what is read, forming
hypotheses and identifying plot events through patterns and scenarios (Jakobs
& Lüdtke, 2017).
Affective neuroscience uses films to study the unfolding of emotional
experiences over time as well as the emotional aspects of film reception. The
combined use of cinematic tools of expression and genre conventions elicits
an emotional brain response which can be measured by MR examination
and analyzed by quantitative methods. Laboratory studies can investigate
viewer responses to stimuli in dramatic film scenes. In one study, the brain
activity of two subjects was compared while one subject watched a dramatic