EMOTIONS: JUST A PERIFERAL LOOK

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Through my many readings and experience in watching movies, I realize that we are influenced by emotions during our movie-watching experience. As screenwriters and storytellers, we deal with emotions; and try transport emotions that we intend to transport to the audiences. That’s where creative writers or screenwriters show their mettle and craft. When we really can define the emotion of the story, build it and transport it well to the audience, we accomplish as effective film-makers or screenwriters.


Do we know what are emotions, if we need to build it well in our stories and screenplays and movies? Also, we need to understand here, it’s based on motions that we indentify genres in movie writing or movie making.


Emotion is the complex psycho-physiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience". Emotion is associated with mood, temperament, personality and disposition, and motivation.


The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French word émouvoir. This is based on the Latin ‘emovere’, where e- (variant of ex-) means 'out' and ‘movere’ means 'move'. The related term "motivation" is also derived from the word movere.


No definitive classification of emotions exists, though numerous taxonomies have been proposed. Some categorizations include:
  • 'Cognitive' versus 'non-cognitive' emotions
  • Instinctual emotions (from the amygdala), versus cognitive emotions (from the prefrontal cortex).
  • Categorization based on duration: Some emotions occur over a period of seconds (for example, surprise), whereas others can last years (for example, love).

A related distinction is between the emotion and the results of the emotion, principally behaviors and emotional expressions. People often behave in certain ways as a direct result of their emotional state, such as crying, fighting or fleeing. If one can have the emotion without the corresponding behavior, then we may consider the behavior not to be essential to the emotion.


Neuro-scientific research suggests there is a "magic quarter second" during which it's possible to catch a thought before it becomes an emotional reaction. In that instant, one can catch a feeling before allowing it to take hold.


Robert Plutchik, professor emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, also a psychologist, is one person who has contributed much to the study of categorizing emotions. Robert Plutchik's psycho-evolutionary theory of emotion is one of the most influential classification approaches for general emotional responses A wheel of emotions he had created is used to illustrate different emotions compelling and nuanced. Plutchik first proposed his cone-shaped model (3D) or the wheel model (2D) in 1980 to describe how emotions were related.



He suggested 8 primary bipolar emotions: joy versus sadness; anger versus fear; trust versus disgust; and surprise versus anticipation. Additionally, his circumplex model makes connections between the idea of an emotion circle and a color wheel. Like colors, primary emotions can be expressed at different intensities and can mix with one another to form different emotions.   
  
                             
Here is a deeper list of emotions as described in Les Parrott, III, Ph.D., is a professor of clinical psychology for Seattle Pacific University, author, motivational speaker, and an ordained Nazarene minister, where emotions were categorized into a short tree structure:   
   


Primary emotion
Secondary emotion
Tertiary emotions
Love
Affection
Adoration, affection, love, fondness, liking, attraction, caring, tenderness, compassion, sentimentality
Lust
Arousal, desire, lust, passion, infatuation
Longing
Longing
Joy
Cheerfulness
Amusement, bliss, cheerfulness, gaiety, glee, jolliness, joviality, joy, delight, enjoyment, gladness, happiness, jubilation, elation, satisfaction, ecstasy, euphoria
Zest
Enthusiasm, zeal, zest, excitement, thrill, exhilaration
Contentment
Contentment, pleasure
Pride
Pride, triumph
Optimism
Eagerness, hope, optimism
Enthrallment
Enthrallment, rapture
Relief
Relief
Surprise
Surprise
Amazement, surprise, astonishment
Anger
Irritation
Aggravation, irritation, agitation, annoyance, grouchiness, grumpiness
Exasperation
Exasperation, frustration
Rage
Anger, rage, outrage, fury, wrath, hostility, ferocity, bitterness, hate, loathing, scorn, spite, vengefulness, dislike, resentment
Disgust
Disgust, revulsion, contempt
Envy
Envy, jealousy
Torment
Torment
Sadness
Suffering
Agony, suffering, hurt, anguish
Sadness
Depression, despair, hopelessness, gloom, glumness, sadness, unhappiness, grief, sorrow, woe, misery, melancholy
Disappointment
Dismay, disappointment, displeasure
Shame
Guilt, shame, regret, remorse
Neglect
Alienation, isolation, neglect, loneliness, rejection, homesickness, defeat, dejection, insecurity, embarrassment, humiliation, insult
Sympathy
Pity, sympathy
Fear
Horror
Alarm, shock, fear, fright, horror, terror, panic, hysteria, mortification
Nervousness
Anxiety, nervousness, tenseness, uneasiness, apprehension, worry, distress, dread

1 comments:

Unknown said...

very helpful article, i request you to extend this with the need for bipolarities (emotions) in the story

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