Section C

A Study on Colors and Emotions of Video Contents -Focusing on depression scale through analysis of commercials

YeonWoo Lee1, MinCheol Kim2, Kim Cheeyong3,,*
Author Information & Copyright
1Dept. of Storytelling, Graduate School of Dong-Eui University, namoo1231@gmail.com.
2Psychiatry, Dong-Eui Medical Center, mintegrity@hanmail.net.
3College of ICT, Major of Game Animation Engineering, Dong-Eui University, kimchee@deu.ac.kr
*Corresponding Author: Cheeyong Kim, Dong-Eui University, Address, kimchee@deu.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2017 Korea Multimedia Society. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-CommercialLicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Dec 19, 2017 ; Revised: Dec 22, 2017 ; Accepted: Dec 22, 2017

Published Online: Dec 31, 2017

Abstract

This study is intended to analyze colors felt in TV commercials among video contents, to provide basic resources of color plan that can be applied to production of contents and to help acceptors to change their mood and to lower depression levels. Many studies have revealed the obvious correlation between depression and suicide, so the World Health Organization(WHO) recommends the importance of media by recognizing public that depression is a serious risk factor that leads to suicides and by asserting the necessity of establishing social environment for active treatment. Contents production companies have social and cultural responsibility to convey correct information and to make acceptors have positive emotions. If the result of colors that emotionally healthy people feel through this study is used for production of video contents, it will be helpful to lower the depression scale and to prevent and treat depression by providing visual comfort. In addition, it is expected to be used as an important basic resource for not only production of video contents but also color plan of industrial fields.

Keywords: video contents; color; emotion; depression scale

I. INTRODUCTION

Among various types of information acquired through vision such as objects' forms, sizes and shapes, the broad spectrum of colors creates images in combination with all the above factors. A study reported that a color is a very important element that is absorbed to human body through eyes, respiratory organs and skin affecting health, and functions in inner mental and emotions adjusting the mood and soul of humans. It was already scientifically proven that colors are very intensive messages that convey intuitive meanings and feelings and affect the human's emotion system. Since the powerful ability of colors affects human's emotions and physical conditions, the color plan of video contents that convey all types of information through vision and auditory sense is very essential.

In human’s emotions, the condition of mood can change either positively or negatively through the change of environment and certain stimulations. People might try to change their emotions into positive ones in their own ways. In that video contents are provided as unilateral and direct stimulations without filtering to acceptors through broadcasting and other media, it is necessary to establish color plans that are closely related to emotions considering the social and cultural responsibilities.

The purpose of this study is to produce video contents by applying the result colors and emotions that mentally and emotionally healthy people feel, to help relief of depression scale and treatment of depression, to prevent depression by offering visual comfort to acceptors with normal depression scale, and to provide a basic resource for production of video contents and color plans of industrial fields.

II. RESEARCH METHOD

Regarding research methods, we had those who have the normal sense of color do self-checking with BDI (Beck Depression Inventory), which is a self-report type of depression scale invented by an American psychiatrist Aron Beck in 1961 and widely used in the world, showed them the black and white version of grand prix winners works in Korea AD Awards of 2015 and 2016, and then asked them to mark the colors that they felt. The presented colors were total 13 colors including 10 basic colors of Munsell color system with exclusion of value and chroma among three attributes of color (hue, value, chroma) along with BL-N0W-N11 and N4 for generalization and simplification of this experiment. To find out the emotions felt by watching the advertisements, we used the SD method, a psychological evaluation method presented by an American psychologist Osgood. The targets of research were total 409 people including members of Daegu Hana Church from teenagers to the elderly in their 70s, and students and teachers of Dongju Girls’ High School in Busan.

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Fig. 1. Still picture image of the grand prix winners work in Korea AD Awards of 2015.
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Fig. 2. Still picture image of the grand prix winners works in Korea AD Awards of 2016.
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Fig. 3. Colors used in the research
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III. THE RESULT AND ANALYSIS

3.1 The result of depression scale BDI research
Table 1. Depression scale examination result.
BDI Score Depression Scale Research Result
0~9 Not depressed 285 persons Total 409 persons
10~15 Slightly depressed 71 persons
16~23 Intermediately depressed 34 persons
24~63 Severely depressed 19 persons
Download Excel Table

We could obtain 409 valid samples including 285 members of BDI 0~9 group(not depressed), 71 of 10~15 group(slightly depressed), 34 of 16~23(intermediately depressed) and 19 of 24~63(severely depressed). This study is to find out the differences among each group, and the gender and age are not included to classification conditions for analysis

3.2 The result and analysis of colors in Ministry of Environment’s public advertisement on recycle in Korea AD Awards of 2015
Table 2. Color research statistical chart of Korea AD Awards of 2015
Korea AD Awards of 2015 * BDI_grp Table
Frequency % BDI_grp Sum
0_9p 10_15p 16_23p 24_63p
01 red 6 2 0 2 10
2.14 2.86 0 10.53
02 yellow 58 9 4 4 75
20.71 12.86 11.76 21.05
03 green 22 5 2 1 30
7.86 7.14 5.88 5.26
04 blue 36 11 6 0 53
12.86 15.71 17.65 0
05 purple 7 0 1 0 8
2.5 0 2.94 0
06 Yellow Red 16 5 0 2 23
5.71 7.14 0 10.53
07 Green Yellow 24 4 2 0 30
8.57 5.71 5.88 0
08 Blue Green 15 1 1 2 19
5.36 1.43 2.94 10.53
09 Purple Blue 17 2 2 1 22
6.07 2.86 5.88 5.26
10 Red Purple 11 3 0 1 15
3.93 4.29 0 5.26
11 White 15 6 3 0 24
5.36 8.57 8.82 0
12 Black 19 10 8 2 39
6.79 14.29 23.53 10.53
13 Grey 34 12 5 4 55
12.14 17.14 14.71 21.05
Sum 280 70 34 19 403
Valid Specimen Size = 403 / the number of missing value = 6
x2=41.1953 df=36 p=0.2537
Download Excel Table

In 280 of BDI 0~9 group, 58 people (20.71%) said yellow and 36(12.86%) said blue. In 70 of BDI 10~15 group, 12 people (17.14%) said grey and 11(15.71%) said blue. In 34 of BDI 16~23 group, 8 people (23.53%) said black and 6(17.65%) said blue. In 19 of BDI 24~63 group, 4 people (21.05%) said grey and blue respectively and 2 people (10.53%) said red, yellow red, blue green and black respectively. The color yellow was selected by the most people including 58 people (20.71%) in 0~9 group as at 24~63 group. In addition, while no one chose blue in 24~63 group, blue was chosen by the second most people in the rest 3 groups. Especially the colors chosen by the second most people in 24~63 group are red, yellow red, yellow blue and black, which is noticeable in that different colors are chosen rather than one color.

3.3 The result and analysis of colors in Samsonite Curve Experiment in Korea AD Awards of 2016
Table 3. Color research statistical chart of Korea AD Awards of 2016
Korea AD Awards of 2016 * BDI_grp Table
Frequency % BDI_grp Sum Sum
0_9p 10_15p 16_23p 24_63p
01 red 19 5 3 1 28
6.81 7.14 8.82 5.26
02 yellow 28 4 2 3 37
10.04 5.71 5.88 15.79
03 green 23 1 0 1 25
8.24 1.43 0 5.26
04 blue 30 9 2 1 42
10.75 12.86 5.88 5.26
05 purple 7 1 4 1 13
2.51 1.43 11.76 5.26
06 Yellow Red 19 9 2 1 31
6.81 12.86 5.88 5.26
07 Green Yellow 22 5 2 2 31
7.89 7.14 5.88 10.53
08 Blue Green 16 5 1 1 23
5.73 7.14 2.94 5.26
09 Purple Blue 27 7 4 2 40
9.68 10 11.76 10.53
10 Red Purple 13 0 2 1 16
4.66 0 5.88 5.26
11 White 21 4 6 2 33
7.53 5.71 17.65 10.53
12 Black 22 7 3 1 33
7.89 10 8.82 5.26
13 Grey 32 13 3 2 50
11.47 18.57 8.82 10.53
Sum 279 70 34 19 403
Valid Specimen Size = 402 / the number of missing value = 7
x2=35.3923 df=36 p=0.4973
Download Excel Table

In 279 of BDI 0~9 group, 32 people (11.47%) said grey and 30(10.75%) said blue. In 70 of BDI 10~15 group, 13(18.57%) said grey, and 9 people (12.86%) said blue and yellow red respectively. In 34 of BDI 16~23 group, 6(17.65%) said white, and 4(11.76%) said purple and purple blue respectively. In 19 of BDI 24~63, 3(15.79%) said yellow, and 2(10.53%) said yellow green, purple blue, white and grey respectively. What is interesting is that the second most people chose yellow green, purple blue, white and grey in BDI 24~63 group.

The statistical result of overall color choice showed that each group chose different colors. For Korea AD Awards of 2015, yellow is the color chosen by 58(20.71%), which is the most people, in BDI 0~9 group, but in BDI 24~63 group 4 people (21.05%), which is the most people, chose yellow and other 4 people also chose grey, which shows the difference between the two groups. In BDI 24~63 group, no one chose blue, but in the rest 3 groups, blue was chosen by the second most people. For Korea AD Awards of 2016, 3 people (15.79%) of BDI 24~63 group chose yellow, but in BDI 0~9 group, the most people chose grey. In advertisements of both years, the color chosen by the most people in BID 24~63 groups was red, yellow red, blue green, black, yellow green, purple blue, white and grey, which means different colors are distributed by around 10%.

3.4 The result and analysis of emotions in Ministry of Environment’s public advertisement on recycle in Korea AD Awards of 2015
Table 4. Emotion research statistical chart of Korea AD Awards of 2015
BDI_grp 0_9p 10_15p 16_23p
(n=285) (n=71) (n=34)
Variable N Average value Standard deviation N Average value Standard deviation N Average value Standard deviation
sd_1 27 4.076 1.498 6 4.406 1.468 3 4.647 1.686
6 9 4
sd_2 27 3.873 1.425 6 4.449 1.43 3 4.5 1.973
5 9 4
sd_3 27 3.422 1.498 6 3.913 1.755 3 3.824 1.783
5 9 4
sd_4 27 3.993 1.571 6 4.261 1.4 3 4.588 1.617
4 9 4
sd_5 27 3.735 1.499 6 4.087 1.652 3 3.941 1.74
5 9 4
sd_5 27 3.735 1.499 6 4.087 1.652 3 3.941 1.74
5 9 4
sd_5 27 3.735 1.499 6 4.087 1.652 3 3.941 1.74
5 9 4
sd_6 27 3.716 1.516 6 3.406 1.343 3 4.471 1.502
5 9 4
sd_7 27 4.077 1.319 6 4.246 1.355 3 4.529 1.619
3 9 4
sd_8 27 3.891 1.176 6 4.072 1.229 3 4.618 1.303
5 9 4
sd_9 27 3.821 1.249 6 3.899 1.285 3 4.235 1.304
3 9 4
sd_10 27 3.855 1.614 6 4.391 1.574 3 4.941 1.722
6 9 4
sd_11 27 3.865 1.246 6 4.221 1.515 3 4.265 1.504
4 8 4
sd_12 27 3.92 1.402 6 3.985 1.531 3 4.706 1.715
6 8 4
sd_13 27 4.287 1.458 6 4 1.636 3 4 1.954
5 9 4
sd_14 27 3.797 1.545 6 3.838 1.767 3 4.147 1.69
6 8 4
sd_15 27 3.451 1.427 6 4.044 1.332 3 4.324 1.701
5 8 4
BDI_grp 24_63p
(n=19)
Variable N Average value Standard deviation F value Pr > F
sd_1 18 5.111 1.278 4.22 0.0059
sd_2 18 4.444 1.464 4.45 0.0043
sd_3 18 3.389 1.787 2.2 0.0872
sd_4 18 4.611 1.65 2.44 0.0639
sd_5 18 3.833 1.689 1.02 0.3828
sd_6 18 4.167 1.465 4.43 0.0045
sd_7 18 4.444 1.097 1.57 0.1972
sd_8 19 4.368 1.535 4.33 0.0051
sd_9 18 3.5 0.857 1.64 0.1793
sd_10 18 5.167 1.383 8.64 <.0001
sd_11 18 4.5 1.2 2.91 0.0344
sd_12 18 3.222 1.309 4.63 0.0034
sd_13 18 3.5 1.098 2.13 0.0964
sd_14 18 3.167 1.2 1.51 0.2105
sd_15 18 4.333 1.715 7.16 0.0001
Download Excel Table Download Excel Table
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Fig. 4. SD method statistic graph between two BDI depression scale groups (0~9/24~63) for Korea AD Awards of 2015.
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Overall, there was statistically significant difference in ‘elegant - vulgar, big-small, cheerful-quiet, high-low, bright-dark, wide-narrow, exciting-calm, good-bad’.

With normal score (4 points) standard, the difference between BDI 0~9 group and 24~63 group appeared in ‘big-small, warm-cold, cheerful-quiet, high-low, heavy-light, good-bad.

In other words, the emotion words chosen by those who are not depressed were ‘big, warm, cheerful, high, heavy, good’, and those who are depressed were ‘small, cold, quiet, low, light, bad’, which are opposite, in Korea AD Awards of 2015, showing the difference between the two groups.

Table 5. Emotion adjectives chosen by two BDI Depression scale groups (0~9/24~63) in Korea AD Awards of 2015.
Korea AD Awards of 2015 BDI 0~9 State with no depression BDI 24~63 State with serious depression
SD Emotion Adjectives Big Small
Warm Cold
Cheerful Quiet
High Low
Heavy Light
Good Bad
Download Excel Table
3.5 The result and analysis of emotions in Samsonite Curve Experiment in Korea AD Awards of 2016
Table 6. Emotion research statistical chart of Korea AD Awards of 2016
BDI_grp 0_9p 10_15p 16_23p
(n=285) (n=71) (n=34)
Variable N Average value Standard deviation N Average value Standard deviation N Average value Standard deviation
sd_1 27 3.669 1529 6 4.13 1.484 3 4.176 1.29
8 9 4
sd_2 27 3.449 1.404 6 3.783 1.371 3 3.971 1.381
6 9 4
sd_3 27 3.094 1505 6 3.147 1.577 3 3.5 1.308
8 8 4
sd_4 27 3851 1.341 6 4.145 1.508 3 4.382 1.326
5 9 4
sd_5 27 3.593 1.349 6 3.754 1.387 3 3.941 1.556
5 9 4
sd_6 27 3.558 1.57 6 3.797 1.652 3 3.941 1.74
5 9 4
sd_5 27 3.735 1.499 6 4.087 1.652 3 3.941 1.74
5 9 4
sd_6 27 3.558 1.57 6 3.797 1.72 3 4.176 1.749
6 9 4
sd_7 27 3.982 1.517 6 4.797 1.461 3 3.941 1.455
6 9 4
sd_8 27 3.725 1.37 6 4.014 1.091 3 4.324 1.147
6 9 4
sd_9 27 3.518 1.355 6 3.739 1.302 3 3.912 1.401
6 9 4
sd_10 27 3.504 1.466 6 3.87 1.454 3 4.324 1.736
8 9 4
sd_11 27 3.48 1.302 6 3.754 1.311 3 3.853 1.329
5 9 4
sd_12 27 3.986 1.577 6 3.941 1.656 3 4.147 1.54
6 8 4
sd_13 27 4.097 1.479 6 4.118 1.541 3 4.118 1.493
9 8 4
sd_14 27 3.924 1.59 6 3.632 1.601 3 4.5 1.503
7 8 4
sd_15 27 3195 1.359 6 3.456 1.588 3 3.794 1.274
7 8 4
BDI_grp 24_63p
(n=19)
Variable N Average value Standard deviation F value Pr > F
sd_1 18 4.278 1.364 3.14 0.0253
sd_2 18 3.944 1.056 2.63 0.0496
sd_3 18 3.333 1.782 0.82 0.4828
sd_4 18 4.611 1.685 3.32 0.02
sd_5 18 3.667 1.029 0.81 0.4872
sd_6 18 4.056 1.589 2.04 0.1072
sd_7 18 4.611 1.577 6.18 0.0004
sd_8 18 4.056 1.11 3.12 0.0259
sd_9 19 3.632 1.77 1.15 0.328
sd_10 18 4.611 1.614 6.08 0.0005
sd_11 18 3.5 0.857 1.47 0.2227
sd_12 18 3.389 1.378 0.97 0.4072
sd_13 18 3.944 1.305 0.07 0.0976
sd_14 18 4 1.414 2.3 0.0769
sd_15 18 4.056 1.434 3.92 0.0089
Download Excel Table Download Excel Table
jmis-4-4-301-g5
Fig. 5. SD method statistic graph between two BDI depression scale groups (0~9/24~63) for Korea AD Awards of 2016
Download Original Figure

Overall, there was statistically significant difference in ‘elegant – vulgar, big-small, warm-cold, soft-hard, high-low, bright-dark and good-bad’.

With normal score(4 points) standard, the difference between BDI 0~9 group and 24~63 group appeared in ‘warm-cold, soft-hard, bright-dark, heavy-light and good-bad.

In other words, the emotion words chosen by those who are not depressed were ‘warm, soft, bright, light and good’, and those who are depressed were ‘cold, hard, dark, heavy and bad’, which are opposite, in Korea AD Awards of 2015, showing the difference between the two groups.

Table 7. Emotion adjectives chosen by two BDI Depression scale groups(0~9/24~63) in Korea AD Awards of 2016
Korea AD Awards of 2016 BDI 0~9 State with no depression BDI 24~63 State with serious depression
SD Emotion Adjectives Big Small
Warm Cold
Soft Hard
Bright Dark
Light Heavy
Good Bad
Download Excel Table

IV. CONCLUSION

This study researched and analyzed colors and emotions felt by those with normal depression scale and those who were diagnosed of depression on TV commercials that contain all the elements of images including story and colors in short video images among video contents. The purpose of this study was to provide a basic resource that can be applied to production of contents, so that it can help acceptors of video contents to change their mood and to relieve depression scale.

The vibration of colors is absorbed into body, restores vitality of all the tissues in the body and stimulates mental recovery, making emotions harmonized. Therefore, if colors are properly chosen and used, positive energy can be created in the body.

The feeling of depression is developed into a disease depression, which eventually can cause the extreme result of suicide. It can also cause social problems such as violent crimes. The feeling of depression is a normal emotion that humans feel, but if it is neglected, it can be developed into a disease causing serious problems. Therefore, it is necessary to try to switch the feeling of depression into the feelings of joy and happiness in our daily lives. That’s why the role of video contents, which are in the center of our culture, is very important. In summary, if the colors and emotions felt by mentally healthy people are used for production of video contents, depression patients can relieve their depression scale and can be treated, and normal acceptors of video contents can be provided with visual comfort, so they can prevent depression. In addition, this study is expected to be used as an important basic resource for color plans of industrial fields as well as production of video contents.

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