APPLYING THE SOLOMON FOUR-GROUP DESIGN TO SHORT FILM PSAS: A METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTION ON EXPERIMENTAL MANIPULATION

Abstract

This paper provides a methodological reckoning of how experimentation can be practiced in the context of creative audiovisual research practices, through phonemic treatment of short films PSAs). Based on the Solomon Four-Group Experimental Design as a theoretical base, the chapter outlines how traditional experimental principles might be combined with narrative and artistic invention. The alteration, which was to add subtitles and narrator narration to an already existing short film PSAs, was to demonstrate a sense of how theoretical concepts drawn from narrative transportation – in particular the cognitive, emotional and imaginative aspects - might be made operative in audiovisual design. The study was not intended to generate empirical findings but to expose the process of translating theoretical ideas into a form of communication and to consider whether leading-edge methodological rigor and creative pliability might be harmonized in the medium of examining is. The team learned that slight interventions — subtitles and narration — can shape the interpretive process along with the narrative flow and emotional pitch of brief stories. In employing the Solomon design as a guide for structure and evaluation, this work provides a methodological approach for integrating empirical thought and artistic production in the field of communication studies. It makes a contribution to the ongoing debate and dialogue concerning how experimental forms can be means for reflection and renewal within current audiovisual communication.