Film Catcher
Studio Louter & Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam (NL), 2022
Eye Filmmuseum holds an extensive collection. With the ‘Film Catcher’, we put the rich history of cinema literally at users’ fingertips.
A surprising look at cinema
In an interactive panoramic room, visitors can discover the quality and diversity of Eye’s film collection in an associative manner. Searching the collection in a non-semantic way – by colour, emotion, movement or framing, for example – reveals unexpected similarities between cinematic fragments. Visitors can use tablets to ‘catch’ these fragments and view the images close up. Their curiosity is aroused and their field of vision expanded.
Visual search
The Film Catcher is unique and experimental, using new AI technology to create interactive and visual search methods. With AI, one thousand films from the collection of Eye were categorised in film-specific features such as; scenes, shot framing and rolling credits. This resulted in new connections between films, connections that were not possible before.
“Take the theme Red. What follows is a superior browsing experience. The wall of the Film Catcher turns red and you slowly start to recognise films.”
Mark Moorman, De Volkskrant — 12 January 2023
Searching without words
The Sensory Moving Image Archive project (SEMIA), funded by the Dutch Research Council, looked at innovative ways of searching and presenting digitised film collections. We worked on the project with Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the University of Amsterdam, Eye Filmmuseum and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. The goal of the research was to develop a visual search engine. Our role included facilitating two brainstorming sessions with study participants.
The Movie Mirror
On the basis of the SEMIA research project, we built a preliminary demo version of a non-semantic search engine. Using a combination of computer vision and machine learning, the Movie Mirror matches the user’s position with shots from more than 60 films. For example, wave both hands and you’ll see your gesture reflected cinematically.
The Movie Mirror was demonstrated at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2018 and the University of Amsterdam’s SEMIA symposium in 2019.
Photos: Studio Louter and Eye Filmmuseum, Jordi Wallenburg
Audience research
The ‘Film Catcher’ is a logical follow-up to the study and the demo search engine. It lets users search not only by movement but also by colour, emotion and framing. We tested the Film Catcher concept in workshops with several of Eye’s target groups. Participants responded enthusiastically and gave useful suggestions for improvements.
“How do the scenes differ? Through careful observation and comparison,you learn about film language and you experience how it affects you.”
Irene Haan, Manager Digital Presentation Eye Filmmuseum, Eye Magazine — 12 December 2022
Credits
Client
Studio Louter & Eye FilmmuseumContent Design
Studio LouterSpatial Design
Atelier AlkemaInteractive Media Production
Kiss the Frog
ArQiveAdvice
IndyVideoFunded by
Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie
Awards
Museums & Heritage Awards 2023
Winner| Best use of digital, internationalIDA Design Awards 2023
Gold | Cultural Interior Design - Museum