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There Will Be Blood with Viewer Gaze

post #1 of 5
2/14/11 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 

Really interesting.

 

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post #2 of 5
2/14/11 at 8:30am

That's really interesting!  Fascinating to see where the gaze naturally jumps to (faces, lights, convergence points) in a composition.  I'd love to see this done on something with a much faster cutting style... OR A SEX SCENE!!!  Hahahaha

 

But at the same time, I'm a bit weary of using science to reduce art down to some generalization and taking the piss out of everything. 

 

EDIT:  Found this blog that really breaks the research and the clip down and praises PT Anderson's ability to guide our gaze through composition and staging without cutting.

 

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/?p=12417

 

AND the entry does take note of the reductive aspect of the research into account:

Quote:

Isn’t this sort of empirical inquiry too reductive to capture the complexities of film viewing? In some respects, yes. This is what we do. Reducing complex processes down to simple, manageable, and controllable chunks is the main principle of empirical psychology. Understanding a psychological process begins with formalizing what it and its constituent parts are, and then systematically manipulating and testing their effect. If we are to understand something as complex as how we experience film we must apply the same techniques.

 

As in all empirical psychology the danger is always that we lose sight of the forest whilst measuring the trees. This is why the partnership between film theorists and empiricists like myself is critical. The decades of film theory, analysis, practice and intuition provide the framework and “Big Picture” to which we empiricists contribute. By sharing forces and combining perspectives, we can aid each other’s understanding of the film experience without losing sight of the majesty that drew us to cinema in the first place.

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post #3 of 5
2/14/11 at 8:41am

Polanski's resume demands this technology.

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post #4 of 5
2/14/11 at 8:46am

I'd really want to see how the gaze responds to that shot in Rosemary's Baby where a door in the foreground covers half of the frame.  I imagine that the collective gaze of the audience would be trying to look AROUND the door.

 

Oh, and thanks for the link Patrick!

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post #5 of 5
2/14/11 at 9:07am

This is definitely getting some front page action when I'm done with the news item I'm working on. This popped up in my RSS this morning and I lost an hour to it before I even got my day started.

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