Goals
My area of research is film editing. My goal is to create and provide studies that film production professionals can use to help with their creative work. Research and study information should be provided to and actively sought out by members of the film production community. This does not happen, but with more film production community members aware of postproduction and film viewer research, it could help with how films are created. This type of research in film will help film students and professionals develop a better understanding of postproduction work, when many others do not fully grasp the depth of what is happening after this work has been released.

Background
Coming from a film production background, no one suggested that students should use current research to help with their work. However, I see the possibilities of research helping with film productions. Research is rarely provided to the film community and those inside the community do not actively seek it out. While in film school, the only research study that we learned of was the eye tracking video from There Will Be Blood (2007) by Tim J. Smith. This study was discussed, because it was relevant to us, as filmmakers.

Future Plans and Research
My dissertation focused on film editors and their perceptions of editing. While there have been many research studies about editing, the majority of these are eye tracking, choosing to focus on where the film viewer looks on the screen. These studies are all quantitative. My dissertation research was a qualitative study, that explored the impact the film editor has on films and what their beliefs are when it comes to the content they create. Now that the dissertation is complete, the paper will be converted to a book for film editors.

The dissertation The Invisible Artist: The Editor’s Perspective on Rhetoric, Ethics, and Representation in Film Editing can be found at shareok.org