Recognizing film aesthetics, spectators' affect and aesthetic emotions from multimodal signals

Even though aesthetic experiences area common in our lives, processes involved in aesthetic experience are not fully understood. Moreover, there is no comprehensive theory that explains and defines the concept of aesthetic experience in art. The challenge of studies on aesthetic experiences is to understand different stages of aesthetic information processing, such as perceptual analysis, cognitive processes, and evaluation resulting in aesthetic judgments and emotions. The main goal of this thesis is to analyze film aesthetic experience evoked in spectators. In particular, we aim to detect aesthetic highlights in movies, as well as recognize induced emotions and aesthetic emotions elicited in spectators. The outcomes of the research on induced emotions, aesthetic emotions, and aesthetic highlights allow researchers to better understand processes involved in film aesthetic experience and can be used for emotional and aesthetic scene detection, emotional and aesthetic scene design, video summarization, and prediction of affective and aesthetic content.