Summary of "Film as research / Research as film" by Trevor Hearing and Kip Jones

In this chapter of the book Hearing and Jones are exploring film as a base for research and research as a base for making a film (426). Hearing is interested in incorporating documentary filmmaking as a valid process of collecting data that can be used in academic research (425,426). Reversely, Jones uses different types of academic research as a base to make a fictional films (426). Hearing also uses film with slow edited images as a method to encourage audience meditation (429). He considers this approach as equivalent to a researcher framing the research question, except that he is doing it with the audience (430).

He further elaborates that the filmmaker directs viewer’s attention through the filmmaking process the same way a researcher is directing the readers attention (430). He regard documentary filmmaking as medium which offers ways to know and understand the world in a different but equally valid way as academic research (435).

For Jones, the message that the research produces has to be attainable to people (431). Research papers might reach people on the intellectual level. If the researcher wants their audience to have an emotional experience, film has the capability of doing just that (431). So Jones, regards creativity as an aspect of academic research (431). For Jones, there is no separation between film for research and research for film (435). They are more like both sides of the same coin. Its possible to incorporate both practices or work just with one of them (435).