awesome! video game aesthetics and the moment of awe

Felix Schröter, University of Hamburg felix.schroeter@uni-hamburg.de !SCSMI 2014 Conference, Lancaster (PA)June 11-14, 2014

Video Game Aestheticsand the Moment of Awe

„In the upper reaches of pleasure and on the boundary of fear

is a little studied emotion – awe.“

Keltner/Haidt (2003): “Approaching Awe, A Moral, Spiritual, andAesthetic Emotion“. In: Cognition and Emotion 17(2), 297-314.

Video Game Aesthetics and the Moment of Awe

• Introduction

• The Nature of Awe

• Awe in Media

• Awe in Video Games

• Conclusion

The Nature of Awe

http://ilifejourney.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/child-in-awe-r1.jpg

The Nature of Awe

• McDougall (1910): admiration as compound of ‘wonder‘ & ‘power‘

• Maslow (1964): peak experiences as ‘passivity‘ & ‘humbleness‘

• Frijda (1986): wonder as ‘surprise' & ‘amazement‘

• Ekman (1992): awe as possible distinct basic emotion

• Keltner/Haidt (2003): awe as ‘perceptual vastness’ & ‘need for accomodation'

McDougall, W. (1910). An introduction to social psychology. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: John W. Luce.

Maslow, A.H. (1964). Religions, values, and peak-experiences. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.

Ekman, P. (1992). “An argument for basic emotions.“ Cognition and Emotion, 6, 169-200.

Frijda, N. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Keltner, D./Haidt, J. (2003). “Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion.“ Cognition and Emotion, 17, 297-314.

The Nature of Awe

Vastness• anything experienced as being much larger than the self /

the self's ordinary frame of reference

• e.g. physical size, social size, or metaphysical ‘grandeur‘

Need for Accomodation

• challenge to (or negation of) mental structures

• attention focused on deviations from existing schemas

• creation of new (or updating of old) schemas

(Keltner/Haidt 2003)

The Nature of Awe

The Nature of Awe

Vastness• anything experienced as being much larger than the self /

the self's ordinary frame of reference

• e.g. physical size, social size, or metaphysical ‘grandeur‘

Need for Accomodation

• challenge to (or negation of) mental structures

• attention focused on deviations from existing schemas

• creation of new (or updating of old) schemas

(Keltner/Haidt 2003)

The Nature of Awe

5 ‘Flavors‘ of Awe Experiences

• threat

• beauty

• ability

• virtue

• supernatural causality

(Keltner/Haidt 2003)

Awe in Media

• media as artworks attributed to ‘powerful others‘> artifact emotions (Tan 1996)

• media as ‘displays of beauty/complexity’> aesthetic pleasure (e.g. Berliner 2013)

Tan, E. (1996). Emotion and the Structure of Narrative Film: Film as an Emotion Machine. New York, NY: Routledge.

Berliner, T. (2013). „Hollywood Storytelling and Aesthetic Pleasure“. In Shimamura, A. (Ed.). Psychocinematics: Exploring Cognition at the Movies. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 195-213.

Keltner, D./Haidt, J. (2003). “Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion.“ Cognition and Emotion, 17, 297-314.

Awe in Media

Awe in Media

• media as artworks attributed to ‘powerful others‘> artifact emotions (Tan 1996)

• media as ‘displays of beauty/complexity’> aesthetic pleasure (e.g. Berliner 2013)

• medial representation of awe-inspiring objects/concepts

Tan, E. (1996). Emotion and the Structure of Narrative Film: Film as an Emotion Machine. New York, NY: Routledge.

Berliner, T. (2013). „Hollywood Storytelling and Aesthetic Pleasure“. In Shimamura, A. (Ed.). Psychocinematics: Exploring Cognition at the Movies. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 195-213.

Keltner, D./Haidt, J. (2003). “Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion.“ Cognition and Emotion, 17, 297-314.

Awe in Media

“Thus, the scene of Jack’s death, occurring against the backdrop of a universe of stars and the vast depths of

the ocean […] inspires awe. Add to this the nearly incomprehensible forces at work in the sinking of this

giant ship and the enormity of the human suffering and death suggested by the hundreds of bodies seen

floating in the cold Atlantic, and the opportunities for the experience of awe […] are plentiful.”

Carl Plantinga (2009): Moving Viewers. American Film and the Spectator’s Experience. University of California Press, p. 182.

Awe in Media

“Thus, the scene of Jack’s death, occurring against the backdrop of a universe of stars and the vast depths of

the ocean […] inspires awe. Add to this the nearly incomprehensible forces at work in the sinking of this

giant ship and the enormity of the human suffering and death suggested by the hundreds of bodies seen

floating in the cold Atlantic, and the opportunities for the experience of awe […] are plentiful.”

Carl Plantinga (2009): Moving Viewers. American Film and the Spectator’s Experience. University of California Press, p. 182.

Awe in Media

• media as artworks attributed to ‘powerful others‘> artifact emotions (Tan 1996)

• media as ‘displays of beauty/complexity’> aesthetic pleasure (e.g. Berliner 2013)

• medial representation of awe-inspiring objects/concepts

• medial representation of human moral virtues / life’s purpose > appreciation (Oliver/Bartsch 2011)

Tan, E. (1996). Emotion and the Structure of Narrative Film: Film as an Emotion Machine. New York, NY: Routledge.

Berliner, T. (2013). „Hollywood Storytelling and Aesthetic Pleasure“. In Shimamura, A. (Ed.). Psychocinematics: Exploring Cognition at the Movies. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 195-213.

Oliver, M. B./Bartsch, A. (2011). “Appreciation of Entertainment. The Importance of Meaningfulness via Virtue and Wisdom“. Journal of Media Psychology, 23, 29-33.

Awe in Video Games

Awe in Video Games

Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico/Sony 2005/2011)

Awe in Video Games

Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico/Sony 2005/2011)

Him

Me

Awe in Video Games

Shadow of the Colossus (Team Ico/Sony 2005/2011)

Awe in Video Games

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony 2012)

Case Study: Journey (2012)

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony 2012)

Awe in Video Games

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony 2012)

Awe in Video Games

Journey (Thatgamecompany/Sony 2012)

Conclusion

• Contemporary video games seek to cognitively and emotionally address players by staging memorable ‘moments of awe’ within the interactive gameplay.

• Two appraisals can be regarded as central to the experience of awe: perceived vastness and a need for accomodation.

• Video games allow for the representation of physical or social vastness (in narrative terms), but also of ‘ludic vastness’ regarding its game mechanics and rule system…

• … as well as player skills and capabilities in the case of multiplayer gaming (e.g. by signaling differences in social status and power).

Thank you!

Felix Schröter felix.schroter@uni-hamburg.de @felixjs www.felixschroeter.de

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