Using Film Cutting Techniques in Interface Design

Abstract

It has been suggested that computer interfaces could be made more usable if their designers utilized cinematography techniques, which have evolved to guide the viewer through a narrative despite frequent discontinuities in the presented scene (i.e., cuts between shots). Because of differences between the domains of film and interface design, it is not straightforward to understand how such techniques can be transferred. May and Barnard (1995) argued that a psychological model of watching film could support such a transference. This article presents an extended account of this model, which allows identification of the practice of collocation of objects of interest in the same screen position before and after a cut. To verify that filmmakers do, in fact, use such techniques successfully, eye movements were measured while participants watched the entirety of a commercially released motion picture, in its original theatrical format. For each of 10 classes of cut, predictions were made about the use of collocation. Peaks in eye movements between 160 and 280 msec after the cut were detected for 6 of the 10 classes, and results were broadly in line with collocation predictions, with two exceptions. It is concluded that filmmakers do successfully use collocation when cutting in and out from a detail, following the motion of an actor or object, and in showing the result of an action. The results are used to make concrete recommendations for interface designers from the theoretical analysis of film comprehension.