Goals
My area of research is film editing and the film viewers. 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. I have a terminal degree in Film, so I also plan to teach a few production classes. This type of research in film will help students 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 we, as students, should use current research to help with our work. However, I see the possibilities of research helping with our 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 focuses on the film viewer 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 is a qualitative study, asking the film viewers what their perceptions are of editing, what they see, and what they understand.