Viewer’s Attention Flow When Watching Audiovisual Cuts

Abstract

Audiovisual works have plenty of cuts, but viewers hardly notice them. Movie edition creates a discontinuity in audiovisual works. We analyze the effects of cuts on 36 subjects, using electroencephalography (EEG) techniques. Cuts result in an increase of attention in viewers by decreasing their eyeblink rate. They also cause a spread of potentials from the occipital area to the frontal area at around 200 ms after the cut, as the perception of the media content progresses to more-complex areas of process. Our results are coherent with previous studies on early discrimination of visual stimuli. The mentioned flow of potential happens differently depending on the style of edition in which cuts are inserted. Cuts in continuous narrative have a lower impact on the visual zone than do cuts in chaotic and fragmented narrative. However, the opposite is found in the prefrontal area, with a higher activity when continuous and lifelike narrative is being watched. These results can be applied for the management of attention when creating media content.