An Attentional Theory of Continuity Editing
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An Attentional Theory of Continuity Editing Tim J. Smith Doctor of Philosophy Institute for Communicating and Collaborative Systems School of Informatics University of Edinburgh 2005 Abstract The intention of most film editing is to create the impression of continuous action (“continuity”) by presenting discontinuous visual information. The techniques used to achieve this, the continuity editing rules, are well established yet there exists no understanding of their cognitive foundations. This thesis attempts to correct this oversight by proposing that “continuity” is actually what perceptual and developmental psychologists refer to as existence constancy (Michotte, 1955): “the experience that objects persist through space and time despite the fact that their presence in the visual field may be discontinuous” (Butterworth, 1991). The main conclusion of this thesis is that continuity editing ensures existence constancy by creating conditions under which a) the visual disruption created by the cut does not capture attention, b) existence constancy is assumed, and c) expectations associated with existence constancy are accommodated after the cut. Continuity editing rules are shown to identify natural periods of attention withdrawal that can be used to hide cuts. A reaction time study shows that one such period, a saccadic eye movement, occurs when an object is occluded by the screen edge. This occlusion has the potential to create existence constancy across the cut. After the cut, the object only has to appear when and where it is expected for it to be perceived as continuing to exist. This spatiotemporal information is stored in a visual index (Pylyshyn, 1989). Changes to the object’s features (stored in an object file; Kahneman, Treisman, & Gibbs, 1992), such as those caused by the cut, will go unnoticed. A duration estimation study shows that these spatiotemporal expectations distort due to the attention withdrawal. Continuity editing rules show evidence of accommodating these distortions to create perceived continuity from discontinuous visual information. The outcome of this thesis is a scientific understanding of filmic continuity. This permits filmmakers greater awareness of the perceptual consequences of their editing decisions. It also informs cognitive scientists of the potential of film as an analogue for real-world perception that exposes the assumptions, limitations, and constraints imposed upon our perception of reality. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors Helen Pain and John Lee, for their support and guidance. Their acceptance of my ideas and tolerance of my frequent leaps across research areas allowed me to produce this thesis. I would also like to thank Graeme Ritchie who started out on the road towards this thesis with me and provided much needed instruction on how to be an ideal Ph.D. student. If I ever do another one I’ll be sure to follow your instructions. I want to acknowledge the financial support of EPSRC, the Institute for Communicating and Collaborative Systems, and the Informatics Graduate School. Thanks has to go out to Scott Nowson who accompanied me on this journey. He was always present when I needed distraction, support, and reassurance that it’s ok to do something a little bit “out there”. My deepest gratitude to my parents, Alison and Steve Smith, who have supported me emotionally and financially throughout my continuous 22 years of education. Mum, thank you for always being there to comfort me and bring me down to earth. Dad, thanks for getting me hooked on horror films from a ridiculously early age. Who’d have thought where it would lead! My final thanks go to the person without whom this Ph.D. wouldn’t have happened; without whom the last four years of my life wouldn’t have been so joyous; without whom I wouldn’t be the man I am today; and with whom I hope to spend the rest of my life…..Andrea Greve. 3 Declaration I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text, and that this work has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. (Tim J. Smith) 4 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction...................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: Background....................................................................................... 16 2.1 What is Continuity Editing?....................................................................... 16 2.1.1 180° System ....................................................................................... 18 2.1.2 Analytical Editing .............................................................................. 20 2.1.3 Reverse-Angle Shots.......................................................................... 22 2.1.4 Matched-Exit/Entrance ...................................................................... 23 2.1.5 Match-Action ..................................................................................... 24 2.2 Existing theories of Continuity Editing ..................................................... 25 2.3 The psychological effects of discontinuities.............................................. 33 2.3.1 Orienting Response ............................................................................ 36 2.3.2 What captures attention?.................................................................... 38 2.3.3 Inattentional Blindness....................................................................... 39 2.4 Main Questions .......................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3: Hiding a Cut ..................................................................................... 45 3.1 Focus on a constant .................................................................................... 46 3.1.1 Dissolve.............................................................................................. 47 3.1.2 Graphical Match................................................................................. 49 3.1.3 Digital Composites, CGI, and MoCo................................................. 53 3.1.4 Summary ............................................................................................ 54 3.2 Expecting a visual change.......................................................................... 55 3.2.1 Attracting Attention with Motion ...................................................... 57 3.2.2 Deictic cues and the power of the gaze.............................................. 59 3.2.3 Pull, push, and point across a cut ....................................................... 63 3.2.4 Summary ............................................................................................ 65 3.3 Directing attention internally ..................................................................... 67 3.3.1 Event Segmentation ........................................................................... 69 3.3.2 The Significance of Event Boundaries............................................... 72 Chapter 1: Introduction 3.3.3 Positioning a cut relative to an event ................................................. 74 3.3.3.1 During ............................................................................................ 75 3.3.3.2 End ................................................................................................. 76 3.3.3.3 Breakpoint...................................................................................... 77 3.3.3.4 Beginning ....................................................................................... 78 3.3.4 Does this match editor’s intuitions?................................................... 79 3.4 Suppress attention ...................................................................................... 81 3.4.1 In the blink of an eye.......................................................................... 82 3.4.1.1 The Cut = A Cinematic Blink ........................................................ 83 3.4.2 Saccadic Suppression......................................................................... 89 3.4.2.1 Furthering the attention analogy .................................................... 92 3.4.2.2 Attentional Synchrony ................................................................... 93 3.4.3 Summary of Suppress Attention ........................................................ 98 3.5 Summary of Hiding a Cut .......................................................................... 99 Chapter 4: Cuing a Cut..................................................................................... 103 4.1 Experiment 1: Introduction ...................................................................... 103 4.1.1 Occlusion by the screen edge........................................................... 106 4.1.2 Occlusion as a primitive editing cue ................................................ 107 4.1.2.1 The history of occlusion by the screen edge ................................ 109 4.1.2.1.1 Forbidden Occlusion .............................................................. 109 4.1.2.1.2 Chasing attention across cuts ................................................. 111 4.1.2.2 Matched-Exit/Entrance Cut.......................................................... 113 4.1.3 Visual Occlusion .............................................................................. 117 4.1.3.1 Gestalt Psychology and Amodal Completion .............................