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Abstract摘要
在电影的历史长廊中，有大量的经典灾难片。灾难发生时，电影中所强调的人性的真诚、善良和美丽，总是给我们留下深刻的印象和有意义的后记。通过实证研究，探讨灾难片对观众心理的影响。本文主要探讨了灾难片如何塑造观众的观念和观念，并对灾难片的制作和消费提出了建议。
In the history corridor of film, there were a great number of classical disaster films. The sincerity, goodness and beauty of the human nature highlighted in films when the disasters took place always left us deep impression and meaningful afterthoughts. By empirical study, this paper tries to discuss how disaster film impact on psychology of audience. In this paper, we primarily discuss how disaster film shape audience conceptions and ideas, and further makes recommendations on the production and consumption of disaster films.
Project Title:项目名称：
本文论述了灾难片的类型以及灾难片对观众心理的影响，虽然随着科学技术的进步，人们对自然的利用和改造能力得到了增强，但自然不会躲在被践踏的角落里。一旦地震、海难、洪水、飓风、突发事件、未知病毒、火山爆发和天气突变等灾害发生，人们引以为豪的文明立即显得脆弱，那些鲜活的生命也一个个枯萎。环境污染、过度开发甚至加剧了自然的暴力。灾难的来临总是带给人们悲伤和恐惧，带走人们最宝贵的东西，例如生命、财产、健康的身体，甚至梦想和希望。无论大自然如何发展，一个适宜的生活环境都是必不可少的。虽然我们似乎一天比一天战胜了大自然，但我们必须承认，我们的生活和幸福是大自然赐予的。只要灾难发生，我们就会变得无助。事实上，观众对灾难片的看法和想法是不同的。有的观众把灾难片当作纯粹的娱乐，有的观众会重新思考人类的行为，重新审视人与自然的关系；有的观众可能会陷入恐慌，或者散布谣言，在极端情况下，人们的真实生活也可能会受到灾难片的影响。这些不同的反应使得灾难片的研究具有重要意义，可以进一步指导灾难片的制作和消费。
This paper discusses disaster films genres and the effects of disaster films on psychology of audiences.Although human’s ability to use and transform the nature strengthened with the advancement of science and technology, nature will not hide in a corner to be trampled upon. Once the disasters such as earthquakes, marine perils, floods, hurricanes, unexpected troubles, unknown virus, volcanic eruptions and weather mutation took place, the civilization that people are proud of immediately appeared fragile, and those fresh and alive lives also withered one after another. Environmental pollution, over-exploitation even exacerbated the violence of nature. The approaching of disasters always bring people with sadness and fear, and take away the most precious things of people, for example, life, property, healthy body even dream and hope. No matter how the nature developed, a suitable living environment is indispensible. While we seemed to overcome the nature day by day, we have to acknowledge that our life and happiness are bestowed by nature. As long as disaster happens, we would become helpless. In reality, audiences’ perceptions and ideas of disaster films are different. Some audiences take disaster film as a purely entertainment; some will rethink the human behaviors and re-examine the relationship between human and nature; and some other people may get into a panic, or spread rumors, in the extreme situation, people’s real life might be affected by disaster film as well. These different reactions make the research of disaster films with great significance, which can further guide the production and consumption of disaster films.
Rational for the project:
Understand the genres and psychological impact of disaster films to audiences can better guide the production and consumption of disaster films. Everyone refuses disasters, but it doesn’t mean that we should avoid thinking of the disaster. Only with deep reflections and thinking about disasters can we prevent the occurrence of the disaster, can we be alert on the disaster and find the inner strength in face of relentless scourge. Disaster film is a product of thinking and reflection. The flourishing ofdisaster film embodies the burgeoning of people’s attitudes to self-reflection in the process of rapid development of global science and technology, which is an upgrading of people’s self-understanding capacity. Disaster film not only pursued the life-like construction of disaster effects but also attached much importance to the pursuit and grasp of the life strength when people faced with disaster fate as well as the rational thinking of the development direction of society for people themselves.
Some previous researches suggest that audiences’ perceptions and behaviors of disaster films reflect mythological notions and misinformation; later some focuses on the popularity of disaster works. (Geduld, 1975; Kaplan, 1975) In the theme of disasters, most essays reflects “a negative public reaction to the advanced technology of modern societies”. (Quarantelli, 1980) However, some other studies suggest that disaster films have little impact on erroneous beliefs (Wenger, James and Faupel, 1980) Therefore it is worthy asking the following questions: does disaster films shape audiences’ perceptions and ideas of disaster? how disaster films influence on the psychology of audience? how to handle with misinformation and rumors from disaster films?
Expected impact of the work
As stated above, disaster films bring psychological impact on audiences. To answer these research questions, this study first investigates the psychological influences of disaster films to audiences, explains why the attitudes of audiences differ, and further discusses the social impact of disaster films; recommendations will also be addressed accordingly.
Literature review
The definition of a disaster film is explained in the Dictionary of Film terms (2006) where the disaster film is a kind of feature film on the basis of natural or man-made disaster. It is a kind of film that takes the large-scale disaster that nature, human being and imaginary alien bring to human society as the theme, and the film takes the plot with panic, terror and miserable circumstance as well as the catastrophic scene to be the viewing effect. It is easy to find that the numerous definitions of disaster films induced the general features as the embodiment of catastrophic scene, people’s panic mentality in face of disaster as well as visual stimulation and horror effect that film technology produced. (Annan, David, 1975)
Disaster film developed in popularity during the first half of 1970s. In 1972, Poseidon directed by Irwin Allen and The Towering Inferno in 1974 embarked on the new chapter of the disaster film development. (Xavier Mendik, 2002: 50) Subsequently, Earthquake directed by Robin Mark debuted and won himsef great popularity. In 1976, the film The Great Train Disaster, also called Cassandra’s Crossing, jointly produced by west Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, showed the virus disaster in front of people for the first time. “he Running Train towards Death, The Virus Massively Devouring Life as well as the The Cassandra Crossing, all these Hollywood-style “last minute rescue” classic section were again used by the directors and made the film into a screen classic.
In the disaster films of 70s, a variety of disaster elements including air crash, marine perils, biological variation and lethal virus have been showed in the screen. From1975, a series ofJaws directed by Spielberg were continuously screened.Until the release of Dark Waters in 2007, the movie set a surprised scene for the appearance of purely evil shark disaster: the result that the American Navy secretly research on the variable sharks. The evil shark stories shocked audiences, which make them cannot stop thinking: Does some disasters result from human behaviors? Are there any secret experiments conducted in the real life? If so, what the future might be? Thus, it can easily conclude that the purely visual stimulation has gradually changed, and people started to realize the necessity to self-reflect on the behaviors of human themselves. (Stephen Keane, 2006)
Trauma brought by wars was also reflected in disaster films. In Japan, the disaster film at the moment embodied the third mentality of the audience except for vent and adventures. During 1970s, despite the period of frozen postwar economy has ended, the shadow of nuclear explosion in the World War II was clearly retained in the minds of Japanese. Hence, the movie produced by Japan vaguely displayed the Japanese panic mentality caused by nuclear war. (Broderick, Mick, 1992). From 1954 to 2004, Japan successively shot 17 Godzilla-themed films, including 13 films produced during 1960s and 1970s. The intensive shooting speed has glimpsed the gray lingering memories that the two nuclear bombs in the World War II left to Japanese. Then, the shock and concern even the fear to the nuclear war as well as the postwar in the minds of Japanese can be easily found, however, there was a far cry from the remade movie Godzilla by US in the 21st , which was elaborated with “educational meaning”. In these films, although Godzilla was a monster that was imagined in the minds of Japanese, it, in a certain sense, was a kind of shift of the disaster shadows in the heart of Japanese. Also in 1974, the film Nihon Chinbotsu adapted from the novel with the same name depicted that the Japanese island would gradually sink to the bottom within a year. The movie expanded people’s eschatological panic and presented it in front of the people. Although the film merely confined the vision to the Japanese island, and distinguished the global destruction caused by ecological disaster, the presentation of the “doomsday complex” tolled the alarm bell of living dilemma of human being. (Wheeler John, 2010) #p#分页标题#e#
In many disaster films, such asNihon Chinbotsu (1974) and Dark Waters (2007), when facing disasters, people are helpless and desperate; even in the end they can overcome the weakness and win the wars against disasters, the hardship and sacrifice also bring us a lot of sadness and grief. As Dixson
People watching disaster films cannot get satisfaction through release their inner desire, on the contrary, disaster films evoke the fears of the unknown world and real disasters, and such a fear indirectly reflects human beings’ questions on highly developed science and technology. In disaster films, people do not see the perfect themselves just like seeing in a mirror, but through a variety of disasters, they find their own weak.That might be the reason why disaster films are popular among audiences. Just as Norem addressed in his book The Positive Power of Negative Thinking, “be aware of the potential of bad things ahead and you can prepare the best mode of coping.” (Julie Norem, 2002)
Expected outcomes are:
Through research on disaster films, this paper aims to further discuss the psychology impact of disaster films to audiences. Perceptions and consumption of audiences are the expected outcomes. The ubiquitous death threat in the disaster films shocked the audiovisual and heart of the moviegoers. When they walked out of the cinema, their hearts was filled with not only the satisfaction of sensory stimulation but also the soothing of the end of the nightmare. However, with the over-development of industrial civilization, the various disasters appeared in the movie reflected on the current living situation of human being, which made people in panic and started to reflect on their behaviors. The waxing and waning of the natural disaster is nothing wrong, but the vainglorious superiority of human civilization is still vulnerable in front of nature; while with the advancement of industrial civilization, human desire expanded unlimited, and the excessive claim for the nature finally caused the crazy revenge on human, hence, disaster become Damocles sword hanging upon human head. Therefore, people started to pay attention to the around world, caring for the living states of people themselves in the world. They started to experience the potential unease and anxiety in the blind advancement of science.
This study is to investigate the perceptions and ideas of audiences upon the disaster films, and further discuss the impact of disaster films on the psychology of audiences. In order to achieve the above-mentioned aim, the following objectives are established:
to examine whether or not disaster films impact on people’s mood and emotion;
to identify and analyze in the face of disaster films, people will re-think human beings’ relationship with nature, or get into a panic and spread rumors;
to evaluate the production and consumption of disaster films, and address recommendations in this regard.
Proposed methodology
By means of film, the advancement of technologies made it possible to manifest the unpredictable fear to the future society, which hided in people’s heart. Whether it is a reproduce, speculation or conjecture for the disaster, it actually shows the inner anxiety and fear in people’s heart as well as the trepidation and reflection on the frequent occurrence of the disasters. Disaster films make painstakingly efforts to present the audience with various catastrophic scenes to arouse the sense of fear in the inner heart of the audience and resonate with the film, thus, the satisfying mentality for film viewing would come to their mind. But, the sense of fear in the inner heart of the audience has changed from the initial simple reaction in face of disaster to the scare of the unpredictable disasters as well as the mystification for the uncertain future, eventually, people start to rethink and reexamine the problems of human themselves.
This study aims to investigate psychological impact of disaster films to audiences. It will use quantitative and quantitative research methods together. Questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data, as questionnaires are beneficial for collecting a large number of data within a short period of time to save time and manpower (Creswell, 1998; Moballeghi, M. & Moghaddam, G.G., 2008). Questionnaires help to provide sufficient data to prove whether there is psychological impact and what kind of the said impact is. The main contents of the questionnaire include three parts, the first part states the aim of conducting the investigation and how to fill out the questionnaire. The second part investigates the specific psychological impact of audiences had from disaster films. The third part shows the respondents’ personal information. Answers to these questions in the questionnaire will be expressed by using Likert scale, 1-5 represents strongly disagreeto strongly agree.
A semi-structured interview will be implemented to collect qualitative data. Interview is in favor of a direct communication between interviewers and interviewees, so interviewers are easier to understand what interviewees think of certain things. This study will learn through semi-structured interviews about the respondents’ views on disaster films and why they have such views. It can also understand the respondents' professional ethics, view on life, values and other information. Through the interview, the author can better propose measures for handling the social and cultural impact of disaster films.
Sampling selection and data collection
By using random sampling, 100 participants who have different background have been chosen as participants of the questionnaire, as almost every adults have an experience watching disaster films. The interviewees will be at least three audiences respectively, which contribute to an overall understanding of the disaster films’ impact.
In this paper, the quantitative data will be collected through questionnaires. The questionnaires will be distributed and collected by sending email. The qualitative data will be acquired through semi-structured interviews and conducted via mainly using Skype. Interviews of each time will last for approximately 20 minutes. The contents of the interview will be recorded through handwriting.
Research tool and budget
SPSS 17.0 shall be used to analyze data collected by questionnaire.
Budget
Questionnaire would be distributed and collected by sending email, no cost involved in this part;
Interview would mainly be conducted through Skype, no cost involved in this part;
Other resources, including cost of books, previous studies resources, other cost related to interviews (e.g. Telephone cost), etc.
Limitation
This study will make a detailed study to investigate audiences’ psychological perceptions and ideas of disaster films. Through empirical study, the real psychological impact of disaster films to audiences would be discussed and analyzed; based on the investigative results, recommendations and strategies in regard to production and consumption of disaster films will be further put forward, which makes the study with realistic significance.
The psychological perceptions and ideas of audiences are complicated, which include many factors and not all of them can be studied and explained explicitly in the study. Empirical study is a time consuming work, be limited by funds, resources and energy, this study can only be conducted in a given area, large and comprehensive empirical study is impossible, and it is also impossible to analyse all the factors relating to psychological perceptions and ideas of audiences one by one. The above reasons are the main limitation of the study.
Ethical Issue
In social research, personal information is collected for the purpose of study, these information should be used cautiously. Any duplication and using of the information should get the permission of participants first, and other ethical issues should also be taken into consideration, including, the consent of participants, the confidential of the information, etc. (Chava Frankfort-Nachmias and David Nachmias, 2000). In the process of the study, participants are clearly informed that they can decide whether or not to participate in the study, specifically be informed what the study is and how the study would use the information. Also, it is a must to let them know the data is only for academic use, and the records of questionnaire or interview are confidential and mainly in written forms.
Reference
Annan, David (1975). Catastrophe, the End of the Cinema? Bounty Books
Chava Frankfort-Nachmias and David Nachmias (2000) Research Methods in the Social Sciences.New York: Worth Publishers.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Frank Eugene Beaver (2006) Dictionary of Film Terms: The Aesthetic Companion to Film Art. Peter Lang.
Geduld, Herbert J. (1975) The Disaster Films. Social Policy 5: 50-51.
Julie Norem (2002) The Positive Power of Negative Thinking. Basic Books; Reprint edition (September 5)
Kaplan Fred (1975) Film Disasters. Progressive 39: 38-39.
MickBroderick(1992) Nuclear Movies: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of International Feature Length Films Dealing With Experimentation, Aliens, Terrorism, Holocaust. McFarland & Co. #p#分页标题#e#
Moballeghi, M. & Moghaddam, G.G. (2008). How Do We Measure Use of Scientific Journals? A Note on Research Methodologies, Scientometrics 76 (1), pp: 125–133.
Quarantelli (1980) The Study of Disaster Movies: Research Problems, Findings and Implications. University of D elaware Disaster Research Center, Preliminary Paper #64, p.2.
Stephen Keane (2006) Disaster Movies: The Cinema of Catastrophe. Wallflower Press.
Wenger Dennis, Thomas James and Charles Faupel (1980) Disaster Beliefs and Emergency Planning. Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware.
Wheeler, John (2010). "The Art of Collaboration: interview with Ryuhei Kitamura". Asia Pacific Arts.
Appendix 1 Questionnaire
Dear Participant:
I am a graduate of [Major] of 2015 in XX University. Currently, I am conducting a research on the “Disaster Film and Its Effects on Psychology of Audience”. In the need of my dissertation writing, hereby I invite you to participate in the present questionnaire investigation. This is a survey of your opinions on you real feeling of watching disaster films. I sincerely hope that you will finish this questionnaire according to actual scenario and your person experiences. Please mark a “√” on the right answer. The information you provide will only be used in the present research and the confidentiality of this survey will be protected. The following questionnaire may take you 15 minutes.Your participation is subject to privacy policies and will be handled anonymously. Sincerely thank you for your collaboration!
In the following questions, five degrees are set to reflect your answers to each question, please tick the option that can reflect your true opinion most.
Personal Information
1. Your age?
A. 18-30 B. 30-45
C. More than 45 □
2. Your gender?
A. Male B. Female
3. Your education background?
A. Master's degree B. Bachelor degree
C. Doctoral degree D. Other academic qualifications
Strongly disagree to Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5
1. You really enjoy watching disaster films?
2. You are willing to watch disaster film because you take it as a purely entertainment?
3. You are willing to watch disaster film because it reminds you re-think human behaviors and the relationship with nature?
4. You often watch disaster films?
5.Do you think disaster films originate from real events of disasters?
6. Do you trust the disasters in the film will really happen in the future?
7. Do you feel frustrated after you watching disaster films?
8. When you hear about rumors of a disaster, will you immediately imagine the scene in disaster film?Do you think that the new media, such as Internet media, are capable of solving these problems?
9. Do you feel panic because of disasters portrayed in films?
10. Do you believe humors of disasters before news released from authentic channels?
11. Disaster films make you worry about your real life, do you agree?
Thank you for your cooperation!
Appendix 2 Interview outline
1. Do you like disaster films? How often you watch disaster films?
2. Do you think stories of disaster films are stories from real life?
3. Do you think watching disaster films will influence on your mood and emotion? If yes, please specify.
4. Do you think disasters in real life are the punishment of nature to human beings? If yes, what are you thinking or feeling when watching disaster films?
5. When hearing rumors of disasters, will it remind you some disaster films you’ve watched before?
6. Do you think the desperate, the hope and the struggle in disaster films a reflect of our real life?
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