This project explores the areas of human perception and story narrative in moving images. Engaged by the research question, “Can spectators become co-authors in the process of a story narrative?”, the research focuses on exploring the co-existence and contradiction between the values of spectators and an author in a process of a narrative by developing a new potential narrative approach with multiple perspectives. I hypothesise that spectators could participate with the story narrative process as co-authors. My key method is to engage with spectators’ participation within a narration (story) by displaying story fragments across multiple screens simultaneously. The potential of having a story spread across multiple screens might bring further interest to authors to re-think the notion of a spectator and tell a story with multiple perspectives in a narrative process with spectators. In order to develop this project, I will use different approaches, such as Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), Data Visualisation (Tufte, 1983), Action Research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) and Heuristics (Moustakas, 1990), which I will explain in further details in each chapter of my exegesis.

Moving image. Story. Burn what is not yours.

This study aims to investigate how English teachers in Sweden use fictional movies and TV series in their classrooms, in order to discover the potential they can have for students’ language proficiency, literacy, and cultural knowledge. The data is collected through a questionnaire distributed to 65 teachers in lower- and upper-secondary school, and secondary adult education. In the questionnaire the teachers are asked about their general habits in using fictional movies and TV series, such as how often they use them and whether they involve their students in the choosing of movies and TV series or not. Furthermore, the 65 respondents are asked what factors they take into consideration when choosing a movie or TV series, how they relate the viewing to the syllabus, what areas of language proficiency they most often address through the viewing, how they introduce the viewing to their students, and what intentional and accidental purposes they believe movies and TV series can serve. The results show that most teachers use fictional movies to a greater extent than fictional TV series. Furthermore, the results show that most teachers provide clear aims to their viewing of movies and TV series, as well as having clear connections to the different syllabuses. It is also evident that teachers see movies and TV series as a valuable resource when developing their students’ language proficiency, literacy, and cultural knowledge.

This thesis conceptualises, investigates, and reflects on the moving image design space in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Motivated by the increasing number of videos, films, and animations produced in the field, the thesis recognizes moving image making as a designerly way of inquiry across research and practice, and argues for the importance of moving image as a research topic in interaction design.  The first contribution of this thesis is the conceptualization of the moving image design space. The growing body of moving images, varying in forms and purposes, can be held together to establish a foundation of knowledge that informs and generates new research and practice. We identify four collections of existing works and their different roles, namely moving image as design technique, design element, design exhibit, and design promotion. The second contribution is the manifestation of moving image making through concrete design studies. These exemplars empirically demonstrate how they investigate, enrich, and challenge the four established collections, and ultimately expand the moving image design space.  These contributions not only provide new knowledge on moving images for better understanding their various roles in interaction design and making works that respond to emerging design opportunities, but also foreground the discussion on the mediation aspect of moving image in HCI. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 7: Manuscript.</p>

This research project, Return of the Polynesian Phantom, investigates self-portraiture through the mediums of moving image, digital modeling, object making, and installation. It seeks to consider in these media an ambiguous threshold between lightness and darkness, the real and the fabricated. The proposition that it explores is that it is at such ambiguous thresholds that notions of identity are negotiated, and where the perception and interpretation of symbolic meaning renders identity phantom.

In the age of digital literacy, teachers need to seek out the best practice in the use of technology so that the digital divide between teachers and learners can be bridged. This study proposed to look at ways to implement motion media (specifically the moving image) technology effectively as a supplementary instructional medium for literature study and to set guidelines for FET (Further Education and Training) English teachers so that learning outcomes could be achieved easily by all learners in the South African English literature class. The aim of this study was to provide guidelines for teachers in order to make optimal language (specific literature) learning possible and enjoyable through the application of motion media technology. In addition to the literature study, qualitative research was done through case studies and by conducting interviews with teachers who teach English Home Language and English as an Additional Language in the FET-phase. The problem addressed in this study is that even though educational technology (especially moving image technology) is easily available to most teachers, they do not implement it in their literature lessons as they are not adequately trained to incorporate it into their lessons. This makes the digital divide between teachers and learners even bigger. The dilemma for many teachers in the twenty-first century is that they have to teach learners print-based literature in an era where everything is technological. The pedagogical potential of moving image media within the English curriculum was explored in this study. The nature and scope of English as a subject area was discussed and various types of literacies were identified. A case was made for moving image education to become central to English literature teaching. Guidelines, strategies and techniques were proposed for teachers who are not technologically trained. Resources for teaching literature with the moving image were also identified. It became evident from the data received from the interviews conducted, that most teachers did not possess the knowledge and skills to use technology effectively in their English literature lessons. They did, however, express the need to receive training so that their literature lessons could be enriched with media other than just print. They wanted to empower themselves so that they in return could empower their learners. This study aimed to be of assistance to the pedagogy of English Home Language and Additional Language literacy teaching so that using the moving image in teaching does not add to teachers' workload, but enriches lessons in such a way that both the teachers and learners can obtain productive outcomes. The research also established that technology can be infused in English literature classes in a way that does not interfere with the content pedagogy, but supports it in a way that actively involves learners and prepares them with the technical and pedagogical skills for creating the new learner-centred classroom. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

In the age of digital literacy, teachers need to seek out the best practice in the use of technology so that the digital divide between teachers and learners can be bridged. This study proposed to look at ways to implement motion media (specifically the moving image) technology effectively as a supplementary instructional medium for literature study and to set guidelines for FET (Further Education and Training) English teachers so that learning outcomes could be achieved easily by all learners in the South African English literature class. The aim of this study was to provide guidelines for teachers in order to make optimal language (specific literature) learning possible and enjoyable through the application of motion media technology. In addition to the literature study, qualitative research was done through case studies and by conducting interviews with teachers who teach English Home Language and English as an Additional Language in the FET-phase. The problem addressed in this study is that even though educational technology (especially moving image technology) is easily available to most teachers, they do not implement it in their literature lessons as they are not adequately trained to incorporate it into their lessons. This makes the digital divide between teachers and learners even bigger. The dilemma for many teachers in the twenty-first century is that they have to teach learners print-based literature in an era where everything is technological. The pedagogical potential of moving image media within the English curriculum was explored in this study. The nature and scope of English as a subject area was discussed and various types of literacies were identified. A case was made for moving image education to become central to English literature teaching. Guidelines, strategies and techniques were proposed for teachers who are not technologically trained. Resources for teaching literature with the moving image were also identified. It became evident from the data received from the interviews conducted, that most teachers did not possess the knowledge and skills to use technology effectively in their English literature lessons. They did, however, express the need to receive training so that their literature lessons could be enriched with media other than just print. They wanted to empower themselves so that they in return could empower their learners. This study aimed to be of assistance to the pedagogy of English Home Language and Additional Language literacy teaching so that using the moving image in teaching does not add to teachers' workload, but enriches lessons in such a way that both the teachers and learners can obtain productive outcomes. The research also established that technology can be infused in English literature classes in a way that does not interfere with the content pedagogy, but supports it in a way that actively involves learners and prepares them with the technical and pedagogical skills for creating the new learner-centred classroom. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Esta tesis estudia el gag visual en tanto que imagen en movimiento, analizando sus formas, modelos y funciones esenciales. Se parte de una serie de ejemplos clave del cine mudo y el slapstick para rastrear su evolución a lo largo de la historia del cine y sus prolongaciones en medios audiovisuales como la televisión y el videojuego. El estudio se centra en las tres grandes dimensiones de construcción formal del gag, tiempo, espacio y movimiento; ligando esos tres registros formales a tres funciones límite: narración, juego y sentido. La investigación confirma el papel del gag como una de las formas de resistencia visual más poderosas de la cultura contemporánea, que cuestiona valores narrativos y simbólicos a través de la posibilidad cómica. / This thesis studies the visual gag as moving image, analyzing its essential patterns, forms and functions. A series of key silent film and slapstick examples are located in order to examine their evolution throughout film history and their extensions in other media like television and video games. The research focuses on three main dimensions of the gag’s formal construction, time, space and movement; three formal scopes that lead to three functional limits: narration, gameplay and sense. The thesis confirms the essential role of the gag as one of the most powerful forms of visual resistance in contemporary culture, that questions narrative and symbolic values through comic possibilities.

The theme for this doctoral thesis focuses on how a film editor strives actively to perceptually frame and direct the film viewer’s gaze across film edits. The editor’s (audio-)visual intentions concerning the film viewing correspond to perceptual considerations that the editor makes during film editing. Film editing in this thesis is considered as a kind of design work, foremost motivated by the possibilities of many new approaches, questions, and answers that a design perspective brings, stretching well beyond what previously adopted perspectives have done. The research questions asked, as well as the presented results, are discussed with regard to design theory, established film production field knowledge, and perception research. Apart from considering audiovisual perception in a film editing context, film editing is also discussed as audiovisual design, and tentative implications for the role of perception in other kinds of design work are pointed out. The results of my analyses are that there is reason to consider parts of film production as design work; that properties of an audiovisual material affect the creative space; that perceptual considerations are a significant part of the film editor’s treatment of the audiovisual material; that film viewers’ response to film edits varies with the shape of the edits; and that this variation is possible to link with the film editor’s intention regarding the edits, as well as to the degree of fulfillment of the intention. I conclude that perceptual precision at the edit point is decisive for attaining a desired film-viewing decoding of a film sequence, and that when the perceptual precision is low, it is likely that the perceived continuity of the film fails. The contribution of this doctoral thesis is that it drives the investigation of actual appliance of perception as audiovisual knowledge in film editing. Hence, it also adds to the more general discussion on perception as part of audiovisual thinking, and how audiovisual knowledge is formed. The thesis contributes to the area of Innovation and Design through its mix of methods, since the main study considers the creation of new artefacts, the thinking going on during that process, as well as human responses to the artefacts. Conclusively, the thesis provides a thorough example of how a design research perspective can add to the understanding of film production, and its trades and activities. / Temat för denna doktorsavhandling är hur det går till när en filmklippare aktivt strävar emot att perceptuellt fånga in och styra sin filmtittares blick över filmklipp. Klipparens (audio-)visuella intentioner med filmtittandet motsvaras av perceptuella överväganden som klipparen gör under klipparbetet. Klipparbetet motiveras i denna avhandling som ett designarbete, främst för att ett designperspektiv på filmproduktion har möjligheter att bidra med många nya infallsvinklar, frågeställningar och svar, som sträcker sig bortom vad tidigare tillämpade perspektiv gör. De forskningsfrågor som ställs, och de svar som presenteras, diskuteras sedan gentemot designteori, etablerad filmproduktionskunskap och perceptionsforskning. Utöver att audiovisuell perception beaktas inom filmklippningskontexten, diskuteras även filmklippning som audiovisuell design, och kopplingar görs till annat designarbete och möjliga implikationer för perceptionens roll i dessa sammanhang. Data om klipparbetet har skapats via videoinspelade deltagande observation där även fortlöpande skärminspelningar skett, medan en filmklippare färdigställde en dokumentärfilmsekvens. Utifrån dessa inspelningar har sedan en elicitering med filmklipparen skett. På så vis har klipparens intentioner och möjliga beaktande av perceptuella faktorer fångats in. Klipparens intentioner avseende filmtittare har sedan testats via ögonrörelsestudier där tittarnas ögondata samlats in medan de tittat på den skapade filmsekvensen. Resultaten av mina analyser är att det finns skäl att betrakta delar av filmproduktion som designarbete, att audiovisuella materialegenskaper påverkar det kreativa utrymmet, att perceptuella hänsyn ingår som en väsentlig del av filmklipparens bearbetning av det audiovisuella materialet, att filmtittares respons på filmklipp varierar med hur klippen är utformade, samt att man kan koppla denna variation till filmklipparens intention med klippen, och graden av intentionens uppfyllelse. Jag drar slutsatserna att perceptuell precision i klippunkten är avgörande för att uppnå en önskad avkodning av en filmsekvens för tittarens del, samt att när den perceptuella precisionen är låg är det troligt att den upplevda kontinuiteten hos filmen fallerar. Doktorsavhandlingens bidrag är att den hjälper till att reda ut den faktiska tillämpningen av perceptionen som audiovisuell kunskap i filmklippning. Men den bidrar därmed även till en mera generell diskussion om perception som en del av audiovisuellt tänkande och formerandet av audiovisuell kunskap. Avhandlingen bidrar till området Innovation och Design genom sin blandning av metoder, eftersom huvudstudien rör skapandet av nya artefakter och tänkande som pågår inom denna process, liksom mänsklig respons på dessa artefakter. Slutligen bidrar avhandlingen med ett genomgripande exempel på hur ett designforskningsperspektiv kan bidra till att förstå delar av filmproduktion, och de yrken och aktiviteter som sker där.

The theme for this doctoral thesis focuses on how a film editor strives actively to perceptually frame and direct the film viewer’s gaze across film edits. The editor’s (audio-)visual intentions concerning the film viewing correspond to perceptual considerations that the editor makes during film editing. Film editing in this thesis is considered as a kind of design work, foremost motivated by the possibilities of many new approaches, questions, and answers that a design perspective brings, stretching well beyond what previously adopted perspectives have done. The research questions asked, as well as the presented results, are discussed with regard to design theory, established film production field knowledge, and perception research. Apart from considering audiovisual perception in a film editing context, film editing is also discussed as audiovisual design, and tentative implications for the role of perception in other kinds of design work are pointed out. The results of my analyses are that there is reason to consider parts of film production as design work; that properties of an audiovisual material affect the creative space; that perceptual considerations are a significant part of the film editor’s treatment of the audiovisual material; that film viewers’ response to film edits varies with the shape of the edits; and that this variation is possible to link with the film editor’s intention regarding the edits, as well as to the degree of fulfillment of the intention. I conclude that perceptual precision at the edit point is decisive for attaining a desired film-viewing decoding of a film sequence, and that when the perceptual precision is low, it is likely that the perceived continuity of the film fails. The contribution of this doctoral thesis is that it drives the investigation of actual appliance of perception as audiovisual knowledge in film editing. Hence, it also adds to the more general discussion on perception as part of audiovisual thinking, and how audiovisual knowledge is formed. The thesis contributes to the area of Innovation and Design through its mix of methods, since the main study considers the creation of new artefacts, the thinking going on during that process, as well as human responses to the artefacts. Conclusively, the thesis provides a thorough example of how a design research perspective can add to the understanding of film production, and its trades and activities. / Temat för denna doktorsavhandling är hur det går till när en filmklippare aktivt strävar emot att perceptuellt fånga in och styra sin filmtittares blick över filmklipp. Klipparens (audio-)visuella intentioner med filmtittandet motsvaras av perceptuella överväganden som klipparen gör under klipparbetet. Klipparbetet motiveras i denna avhandling som ett designarbete, främst för att ett designperspektiv på filmproduktion har möjligheter att bidra med många nya infallsvinklar, frågeställningar och svar, som sträcker sig bortom vad tidigare tillämpade perspektiv gör. De forskningsfrågor som ställs, och de svar som presenteras, diskuteras sedan gentemot designteori, etablerad filmproduktionskunskap och perceptionsforskning. Utöver att audiovisuell perception beaktas inom filmklippningskontexten, diskuteras även filmklippning som audiovisuell design, och kopplingar görs till annat designarbete och möjliga implikationer för perceptionens roll i dessa sammanhang. Data om klipparbetet har skapats via videoinspelade deltagande observation där även fortlöpande skärminspelningar skett, medan en filmklippare färdigställde en dokumentärfilmsekvens. Utifrån dessa inspelningar har sedan en elicitering med filmklipparen skett. På så vis har klipparens intentioner och möjliga beaktande av perceptuella faktorer fångats in. Klipparens intentioner avseende filmtittare har sedan testats via ögonrörelsestudier där tittarnas ögondata samlats in medan de tittat på den skapade filmsekvensen. Resultaten av mina analyser är att det finns skäl att betrakta delar av filmproduktion som designarbete, att audiovisuella materialegenskaper påverkar det kreativa utrymmet, att perceptuella hänsyn ingår som en väsentlig del av filmklipparens bearbetning av det audiovisuella materialet, att filmtittares respons på filmklipp varierar med hur klippen är utformade, samt att man kan koppla denna variation till filmklipparens intention med klippen, och graden av intentionens uppfyllelse. Jag drar slutsatserna att perceptuell precision i klippunkten är avgörande för att uppnå en önskad avkodning av en filmsekvens för tittarens del, samt att när den perceptuella precisionen är låg är det troligt att den upplevda kontinuiteten hos filmen fallerar. Doktorsavhandlingens bidrag är att den hjälper till att reda ut den faktiska tillämpningen av perceptionen som audiovisuell kunskap i filmklippning. Men den bidrar därmed även till en mera generell diskussion om perception som en del av audiovisuellt tänkande och formerandet av audiovisuell kunskap. Avhandlingen bidrar till området Innovation och Design genom sin blandning av metoder, eftersom huvudstudien rör skapandet av nya artefakter och tänkande som pågår inom denna process, liksom mänsklig respons på dessa artefakter. Slutligen bidrar avhandlingen med ett genomgripande exempel på hur ett designforskningsperspektiv kan bidra till att förstå delar av filmproduktion, och de yrken och aktiviteter som sker där.