Semantic, Aesthetic, and Cognitive Effects of Flashbacks in Film

Principles of narrative and intellectual film editing were investigated by assessing the semantic, cognitive, and aesthetic consequences of inserting flashbacks. A short narrative film was presented, either with flashbacks or in chronological/linear order. In Experiment 1, the gravity of the acts committed by the two main actors was perceived to be more salient in the linear than in the flashback version (based on Osgood’s semantic differential ratings). Aesthetic assessment did not vary as a function of the linearity. In reconstructing the movie segments into the right order, the linear film condition showed a better match with the chronological ordering than the flashback condition. In Experiment 2, pupil size of the viewers, as a measure of mental load, was registered on-line. In the flashback version, mental load was heightened due to the flashbacks disrupting the linear story grammar. In the discussion about distinctive advantages of intellectual versus narrative editing, intellectual editing lost the case in the present study. Flashbacks did not enhance aesthetic judgments, and linearity emphasized the semantic features of the leading actors with less consumption of mental resources.