Narrative Sequence Position of Close-Ups Influences Cognitive and Affective Processing and Facilitates Theory of Mind

Close-up shots have been shown to modulate affective, cognitive and theory-of-mind responding to visual narratives. However, the role of close-up’s narrative-sequence position, that is the relative timing of close-up shots in a visual narrative, is largely unknown. Participants watched one of ten versions of the same animated film, after we inserted a close-up shot (neutral or a sad face) at one of five different time points. Story recall responses of 168 participants were analyzed by the Linguistic Inquiry of Word Count, a computerized content analysis software, and coded manually for theory of mind. The narrative-sequence position of the close-up influenced the level of cognitive processing, affective processing, and theory of mind evident in participant responses where a U-shaped relationship was observed for the close-up position. These findings further our understanding of how close-ups affect narrative processing and are of relevance for studies on formal features in visual narratives.