The Psychology behind visual effects: How to engage an audience with visuals

The Psychology Behind Visual Effects and What Visuals Should You Use to Engage an Audience.

Visual effects are the use of computer-generated imagery, animation, or other techniques to create realistic or fantastical scenes and characters in movies, television shows, video games, and other media. Visual effects can enhance the storytelling, mood, and aesthetic of a media product, as well as attract and retain the attention of the audience.

But how do visual effects work on our brains? And what kind of visuals should you use to engage your audience effectively? In this blog post, we will explore some of the psychological principles behind visual effects and give you some examples of how to apply them in your own projects.

1. The Suspension of Disbelief

One of the main goals of visual effects is to create a sense of immersion and believability in the audience. This is achieved by suspending their disbelief, or the tendency to question the validity or reality of what they are seeing. When the audience suspends their disbelief, they are more willing to accept the rules and logic of the fictional world and empathize with the characters and situations.

To suspend the audience's disbelief, visual effects need to be consistent, coherent, and convincing. This means that they need to match the style and tone of the media product, follow the laws of physics and causality (unless otherwise established), and look realistic enough to avoid breaking the illusion. For example, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the visual effects create a rich and detailed fantasy world that is consistent with the source material and the genre conventions. The visual effects also follow the internal logic of the world, such as how magic works or how different races interact. And finally, the visual effects look realistic enough to make the audience believe that they are seeing real creatures and landscapes, not computer-generated models.

2. The Emotional Impact

Another goal of visual effects is to create an emotional impact on the audience. Visual effects can elicit various emotions in the audience, such as awe, fear, joy, sadness, anger, or surprise. These emotions can enhance the narrative and thematic aspects of the media product, as well as influence the audience's attitudes and behaviors.

To create an emotional impact, visual effects need to be relevant, expressive, and impactful. This means that they need to relate to the story and the characters, convey their emotions and motivations, and have a significant effect on their outcomes. For example, in Titanic, the visual effects create a realistic and tragic depiction of the sinking ship and its aftermath. The visual effects relate to the story of Jack and Rose's doomed love affair and their struggle for survival. The visual effects also convey their emotions of fear, desperation, hopelessness, and love. And finally, the visual effects have a significant effect on their fate, as they determine who lives and who dies.

3. The Cognitive Engagement

A third goal of visual effects is to create a cognitive engagement in the audience. Visual effects can stimulate the audience's curiosity, interest, attention, memory, and learning. These cognitive processes can enrich the audience's experience and understanding of the media product, as well as encourage them to explore more about it.

To create a cognitive engagement, visual effects need to be novel, informative, interactive, and memorable. This means that they need to introduce new or unexpected elements or perspectives, provide useful or interesting information or insights, invite participation or feedback from the audience, and leave a lasting impression on them. For example, in Inception, the visual effects create a complex and intriguing concept of dream manipulation and inception. The visual effects introduce new and unexpected elements such as bending reality or planting ideas in someone's mind. The visual effects also provide useful information about how dreams work or what inception entails. The visual effects also invite participation from the audience by challenging them to follow the multiple layers of dreams or question their own reality. And finally,

the visual effects leave a lasting impression on them by ending with an ambiguous scene that leaves them wondering if it was all a dream or not.

Conclusion

Visual effects are powerful tools that can influence how we perceive and respond to media products. By understanding some of the psychological principles behind visual effects,

we can use them more effectively to engage our audience in various ways. Whether you want to create a sense of immersion,

an emotional impact,

or a cognitive engagement,

visual effects can help you achieve your goals.