Review of the cognitive process of immersion in narrative films

Abstract

Since the last century, film and television series have become popular media. The experience of getting emotionally involved with and fully concentrating on films or dramas has been described with terms such as “narrative engagement,” “immersion,” “narrative aesthetic absorption,” and “transportation” and has been studied by numerous researchers. Concepts have been defined and models have been developed to explain how audiences immerse themselves in films, using different approaches, including narrative experience and multisensory integration perspectives, thereby resulting in the different emphases of these models. The purpose of this study was to review the definitions of engagement in films and the cognitive process models for viewing narrative video works. Experimental studies that investigated these models—specifically, the relationship between sensory information in films and immersion—are also reviewed. Future directions for research on narrative films are suggested; in particular, the possibility of integrating models of cognitive process when viewing narrative films.