Informant-Made Videos: A Research and Educational Tool

Abstract

This study documents the use of informant-made video (IMV) recordings as a data collecting method for research into adults' art viewing experiences. Using discourse analysis, ten informants' own videotaped accounts of their responses to works of art were compared to audiotaped baseline responses collected using a traditional interviewing method. The cinematographic orientation and non-narrated segments of the IMVs were also analyzed. The IMVs were shown to be equal to the audiotaped interview as a means of collecting verbal statements about the works of art. Furthermore, the IMVs were found to provide additional information including visual documentation of the artworks, the tracking of informants' trajectories, and documentation of informants' gestures and physical interaction with the works of art. The author concludes with a discussion of the numerous educational possibilities of IMVs.