Exposing Tensions in Documentary Filmmaking for Design Research: The Inner Ear Shorts

Documentary filmmaking is inherently subjective. The filmmaking team decides when to film, how to angle the camera, how to edit, and what narrative to put forward. At the same time, documentary filmmaking has a capacity for sharing people's experiences, expressing emotion, and foregrounding context through image, sound, and movement. In this paper, we discuss the tensions with using documentary filmmaking as a method for documentation as well as dissemination in design research. We present our approach to creating a series of 12 documentary shorts in the context of the Inner Ear project. The Inner Ear is a data physicalization project that invites participants to capture vibrations in their homes, which are then materialized as porcelain sculptures. We articulate the pressures and uncertainties of filming, and the responsibility of building narrative through editing. Finally, we discuss the generative but conflicting goals of combining research documentation with public dissemination via documentary filmmaking.