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Exposing Tensions in Documentary Filmmaking for Design Research: The Inner Ear Shorts

Authors:

Freesoul El Shabazz-Thompson,

Audrey DesjardinsAuthors Info & Claims

DIS '23 Companion: Companion Publication of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference

Pages 198 - 202

https://doi.org/10.1145/3563703.3596633

Published: 10 July 2023 Publication History

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Abstract

Documentary filmmaking is inherently subjective. The filmmaking team decides when to film, how to angle the camera, how to edit, and what narrative to put forward. At the same time, documentary filmmaking has a capacity for sharing people's experiences, expressing emotion, and foregrounding context through image, sound, and movement. In this paper, we discuss the tensions with using documentary filmmaking as a method for documentation as well as dissemination in design research. We present our approach to creating a series of 12 documentary shorts in the context of the Inner Ear project. The Inner Ear is a data physicalization project that invites participants to capture vibrations in their homes, which are then materialized as porcelain sculptures. We articulate the pressures and uncertainties of filming, and the responsibility of building narrative through editing. Finally, we discuss the generative but conflicting goals of combining research documentation with public dissemination via documentary filmmaking.

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MP4 File

Participant Katharina's first Inner Ear Short.

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52.49 MB

References

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Cited By

Odom WBarnett SBrand NYoo MLin HWhite J(2024)Negotiating Conceptual and Practical Frictions in Making the Capra Short Film: Extending a Research through Design Artifact with VideoProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3660739(2866-2881)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3660739
Oogjes DDesjardins A(2024)A temporal vocabulary of Design Events for Research through DesignProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642560(1-12)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642560

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Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

DIS '23 Companion: Companion Publication of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference

July 2023

296 pages

ISBN:9781450398985

DOI:10.1145/3563703

Editors:
Daragh Byrne
Carnegie Mellon University
,
Nikolas Martelaro
Carnegie Mellon University
,
Andy Boucher
Northumbria University
,
David Chatting
Goldsmiths, University of London
,
Sarah Fdili Alaoui
LISN-Université Paris Saclay
,
Sarah Fox
Carnegie Mellon University
,
Iohanna Nicenboim
Delft University of Technology
,
Cayley MacArthur
University of Waterloo

Copyright © 2023 Owner/Author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial International 4.0 License.

Sponsors

SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 10 July 2023

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Research-article
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Refereed limited

Funding Sources

National Science Foundation

Conference

DIS '23

Sponsor:

SIGCHI

DIS '23: Designing Interactive Systems Conference

July 10 - 14, 2023

PA, Pittsburgh, USA

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,158 of 4,684 submissions, 25%

Upcoming Conference

DIS '25

Sponsor:
sigchi

Designing Interactive Systems Conference

July 5 - 9, 2025

Funchal , Portugal

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Citations

Cited By

Odom WBarnett SBrand NYoo MLin HWhite J(2024)Negotiating Conceptual and Practical Frictions in Making the Capra Short Film: Extending a Research through Design Artifact with VideoProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3660739(2866-2881)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3660739
Oogjes DDesjardins A(2024)A temporal vocabulary of Design Events for Research through DesignProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642560(1-12)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642560

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