[AI Summary]: This article proposes a framework for reconciling computational methods with qualitative, phenomenological approaches to audiovisual media analysis. The research presents the AdA (Audiovisual Rhetoric of Affect) project which develops methods for analyzing emotional dynamics and expressive patterns in films about the global financial crisis. The framework includes: (1) creating a machine-readable ontology of film analysis vocabulary with 8 annotation levels, 78 types, and 502 values; (2) systematic video annotation combining manual expert annotation with semi-automatic tools using Advene software; (3) visualization tools for identifying recurring expressive patterns in complex datasets. The authors demonstrate their approach through analysis of scenes from “The Company Men” (2010), showing how embodied experience and aesthetic qualities can be systematically described and computationally analyzed while maintaining focus on human perception. The project has generated over 22,000 annotations and provides open-source tools and data for the digital humanities community.
- Authors: Jan-Hendrik Bakels (FU Berlin), Matthias Grotkopp (FU Berlin), Thomas Scherer (FU Berlin), Jasper Stratil (FU Berlin)
- Translators: Zhang Jiaming (张佳明, ECNU), Chen Dongrui (陈冬睿, Central Academy of Drama)
- Year: 2025
- Journal: Digital Humanities Research (数字人文研究) Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 59-87
- Language: Chinese (translation from English)