Toronto Metropolitan University Open Journals
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Life narratives and the cross-cultural communication of documentary films in the post-pandemic era
No full textThis Phd by Film Practice project will research and develop the use of an interactive documentary format to explore the encounters, feelings and reflections of individuals of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Based in the research student\u27s own background as a UK-based Chinese national trained in personal documentary filmmaking, the project will seek to integrate interviews with other Chinese nationals based in the UK, and their relations back in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will draw on existing COVID-19 documentaries, and the academic literature on life narratives as a reflective methodological framework for understanding the power of documentary as an emotional communicative medium for working through and making sense of profound life events. In so doing, it will contribute towards an expanded knowledge of interactive documentary as innovative filmic practice
An Ethnography of Collaboration in the Production of the Polyphonic Documentary ‘Can You Feel the Heat?’
No full text‘Can You Feel The Heat?’ is the result of an exploration of the role of sound and colour in interactive documentary. It was produced collaboratively by members of the ‘Polyphonic Documentary’ online research group, drawing from 96 video clips on heat and climate change shared by group members for this purpose. Each was motivated by a shared interest in conducting practice-led research on non-linear, interactive forms of non-fictional representation where the language of image and sound was foregrounded over the spoken word. As they worked together over the course of a year, the collaborative methodology they adopted enriched and informed the research process as each experimented both practically and conceptually with the chosen software in response to the research question: ‘Considering the unpredictable outcomes of the non-linear interactive documentary form, how does a creative process driven by a felt response to sound and colour inform eventual meaning?’ For their theoretical framing, the authors of ‘Can You Feel The Heat?’ adopted the Bakhtinian principles of dialogic polyphony and multi-perspectival approaches to the non-linear narrative presented at the project outset by the founders of the ‘Polyphonic Documentary’ research group Aston & Odorico (2018). The non-linear editing software Korsakow, was chosen by the authors based on its potential to provide unpredictable and unexpected juxtapositions of the single narrative units (snu) used in the editing process. This allowed for added meaning to be generated through the editing process as the three researchers explored the possibilities of abstraction and non-verbal meaning-making via juxtaposition and montage. As in a successful linear montage sequence, where meaning is added through the juxtaposition of individually disparate elements, the interactive piece that resulted from the collaboration became more than the sum of its parts. The three researchers were from diverse nationalities, ages, and academic backgrounds, and the combination of their individual knowledge, expertise, and creativity offered their own surprising juxtapositions of ideas and intentions. In the oft-cited experiment of the Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov, where two images produced an additional meaning resulting from the juxtaposition (‘one plus one equals three’), ‘Can You Feel the Heat?’ could be seen to demonstrate that one plus one plus one equals five (three artists/researchers) and the added meaning the ‘juxtaposition’ of their collaboration contributed. This paper draws on these principles of montage and juxtaposition to offer an analysis of the relationship between the creative process and the final product, making an argument for montage as a method. It combines descriptions and examples of the practice with extracts from the meeting transcripts and personal notes of each of the authors to present an auto-ethnographic study of the collaborative methodology adopted, the creative output and the shared and individual conclusions reached
A Kin-Aesthetic Cinematics: Artificial Intelligence, Breath, Kinaesthesia, and Relational Aesthetics
No full textWhat if subconscious somatic impulses were to be heard? What if these impulses were a means to communicate silently and non-categorically? What would a film that follows these bodily impulses look and sound like?
To answer these questions, I have devised a cinematic production and postproduction process that prioritizes neither verbal language nor mimesis but, instead, subliminal subtext. Through a form of worldbuilding and storytelling that focuses on the silences between the bodies in front of the camera, I expose a hidden somatic language and capture it in moving images. I trace tensions and affective expressions that are visible within the body yet often buried underneath words and deliberate gesturing. As part of my production method, I analyze performers’ synchronized sonic breath data with the help of machine learning and custom-made wearable stethoscopes I have developed to foreground the intricate physical expressions that tend to be unseen yet form a distinct language unique to the encounters and intimacies exchanged between bodies. Much like a polygraph, this process exposes corporeal impulses and reveals the nuances bodies communicate when they cannot hide behind words or control their reflexive reactions.
I then actively “co-edit” with the algorithm and disregard the traditional shot - counter shot logic to, instead, privilege patterns of kinaesthetic communication that demand a different rhythm. Kinaesthetic negotiation does not organize around questions and answers nor around the notion of turn-taking as dictated by verbal communication. Instead, bodies exchange somatic information simultaneously and continuously (Barsalou 2003, Feldman Barrett 2017, Bateson 1977). In order to decipher patterns within somatic communication, each exchange is regarded as singular and specific to the interactions of the particular bodies involved. Unlike the current trend of using deep learning by relying on vast and inevitably misrepresentative datasets, my application of AI uses the specific data of the people involved in the filmmaking process and is not exposed to biased datasets.
This presentation discusses how somatic dynamics, once deciphered as a form of language, reveal affective patterns in non-verbal communication that are key to how bodies move one another on screen. It introduces an application of AI in cinema which attends to and augments corporeal nuance
Imagined Communities and Reimagined Spaces of Delhi Metro: @metrodoodle on Instagram
No full textOver the last two decades, India\u27s national capital city, New Delhi, has witnessed an intense physical-socio-cultural metamorphosis with several concurrent developments - the expanding operations of the Delhi Metro Rail network, the increasing access to and decreasing costs of digital media technologies, and the rise of Internet-based social media. Interconnected smart mobile devices act as sites for community engagement through social media, such as Instagram - a social networking site with the highest number of users from India. The inauguration of new modes of visuality and sociality through the mobility of Instagram draws attention to the city\u27s residents\u27 mediated lives and everyday encounters in liminal spaces such as the Delhi Metro. In earlier work on the Delhi Metro and Instagram, I have engaged with the notion of \u27place\u27 and the complexities of relationships between individuals, communities, images, digital technologies, urban spaces, and the transformations in their everyday practices. The point of departure for this paper is re-reading the idea of "imagined communities". The current work explores the socially constructed Delhi Metro commuters\u27 communities as represented on the Instagram account @metrodoodle by a Delhi Metro commuter, Samar Khan, who is also an artist. How does he present his perceptions of these imagined communities\u27 everyday mobilities, sensorial subjectivities, volatile socialities, and the mobile-mediated visualities of the changing city in the past decade? How may one read the ludic aesthetics of his creative artworks that represent a reimagination of a mosaic of narratives shared by everyday urban travellers? How do they capture tangible and intangible experiences of metro travel, and what kind of online conversations do they initiate? The paper examines how subjective imaginations on Instagram may articulate interesting observations about charged affect in private-public experiences in public spaces, commuters\u27 shared values and quotidian experiences, and how the MetroDoodle account may serve as an immaterial community archive of their evolving sensory adaptations and mental experiences of the city. The paper employs a qualitative approach informed by digital ethnography, in-depth interviews, and visual and textual analysis of the artworks posted on the MetroDoodle Instagram account between October 2016 and September 2023. The work suggests how select commuters/users are experiencing the metropolitan city in online and offline modes, claiming and reimagining it and fostering diverse representations. New meanings are articulated, leading to an enhanced \u27sense of place\u27 and a \u27sense of community\u27
Enhancing Natural Convection Through Mechanical Vibration: Eccentric Rotation of Square Cavity
No full textThis study numerically investigates the enhancement of natural convection heat transfer through the application of two-directional mechanical vibration driven by an electric motor that is eccentrically connected to an air-filled square cavity. The Rayleigh and vibrational Grashof numbers are used to define the natural convection and vibrational conditions, which are respectively set to and , and the heat transfer rate improvement is assessed in terms of the Nusselt number. The numerical simulations show that this approach significantly improved heat transfer mechanism, with the area averaged Nusselt number for eccentric rotation condition has increased by 57% compared to the non-vibrational case. These findings may have important conclusions for improving the efficiency of heat transfer in various engineering practices.
 
Coupled CFD Modelling of a Top-fired Steam Methane Reforming Furnace
No full textThe present study proposes a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling framework to accomplish a successful representation of combustion and heat transfer phenomena in the 2D representative radiation section of an industrial top-fired steam methane reforming (SMR) furnace containing 64 reforming tubes, 30 burners and 3 flue-gas tunnels. The framework combines fully coupled appropriate furnace-side models with a reforming process-side model. Experimental measurements are conducted in terms of outlet temperatures at the flue-gas tunnels, point-wise temperature distributions at the panel walls, and inside the reforming tube collectors which are placed at the refinery plant of Petronor. The final results are compared with experimental data. The proposed CFD modelling framework can reproduce well basic flow features. An analysis of the results suggests that non-uniform heat distributions towards the reforming tubes have negative impacts on furnace-balancing and hence these detrimental effects are required to be eliminated by optimizing the operating parameters for the further stage
Modification the Surface of the Cast Iron Via the plasma Thermal Treating Method
No full textContinuous requirements for improving the quality of machine parts require new investigations to constantly increase the exploitation performance of machines. The article analyzes cast iron from EN-GJV-400, which is thermal treated by the application of the plasma method - Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) and at the end of the all the microstructure, hardness and tribological properties of the treated specimens are researched and evaluated.
It has been shown that with the plasma treating of the surface, the mechanical and tribological properties of the specimens have been improved. The method can be applied in the process of manufacturing and maintenance of machine parts from cast-iron
Assisting small Caribbean islands in health sector planning post pandemic: A brief discussion
No full textThe Caribbean Region has been one the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to vaccine inequity, human resource constraints, and pre-existing infrastructural constraints, which led to countries taking viral mitigation and prevention measures for instance border lockdown and states of emergency. While at that phase, treating COVID-19 patients has been the number one priority, several other health services have been neglected, threatening public health. During that period there was significant disruption of healthcare delivery to patients with Chronic non-communicable Diseases in the region which deteriorated capacity issues in the health system, for example Human Resource Deficiencies, Financing of the Health Sector, Governance, and a lack of Health Information Systems. This paper provides an overview of how pandemic insurance claims and big data analytics tools can assist in gaining insights into the current state of the population’s health. Big data and analytical approaches provide a variety of solutions, including the detection of current COVID-19 cases and the forecasting of future outbreaks which can aid in obtaining some insight into the present state of the health of the population
Factors affecting emergency department use among pediatric immigrants and refugees: A qualitative narrative review
No full textPurpose: To identify factors affecting emergency department (ED) use by immigrant and refugee children under the age of 18 years in North America and Europe, where similar primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare structures exist. Methods: A narrative review methodology was used to complete a search of three databases including CINAHL, MEDLINE, and SCOPUS. Inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria were applied following screening and full-text review, resulting in the 8 articles that were selected for this review. Results: Six central themes were identified for presentation to ED’s including: (1) financial accessibility; (2) health insurance; (3) presence of a primary care provider; (4) language barriers; (5) transportation; and (6) health literacy, with health literacy further being divided into a lack of knowledge and parental perception and understanding of illness. Implications and Conclusion: Factors that influence ED use by pediatric immigrant and refugee patients are multi-factorial and interconnected. Recommendations are made to encourage informed changes based on population healthcare needs, with the overall goal to reduce non-essential ED use and improve patient health outcomes. While this review identifies and evaluates the limited research available in this area, further studies need to be completed before generalizations can be made for all pediatric immigrant and refugee populations
Planetary health curriculum in higher education: Scoping review
No full textIntroduction: Human actions on this planet have caused numerous changes and negative impacts on society and the ecosystem. Thus, the field of Planetary Health emerged with the need to adopt approaches that reconcile natural and human systems. However, this field of study is still little recognized in the internal and external environments of the scientific community and society in general, especially in developing countries. Objective: The objective is to provide a comprehensive view of publications on the actions and scenarios of higher education regarding planetary health that can help in the formulation of teaching plans on planetary health. This article aims to review and describe variables such as curriculum, workload, and main methods and approaches used in higher education on planetary health. Methods: This is a scoping review based on the evaluation of studies that address teaching methods in undergraduate health courses. The study was conducted in July 2022, in the electronic databases, Scopus, PubMed, and EMBASE, by the identification, selection, mapping, and summary of the included studies were carried out. Results: The articles included indicate that there are few reports of experiences in countries of the Global South and such curricula are especially focused on medicine and nursing courses. Conclusion: Current and future health professionals are not yet prepared for the challenges they will face regarding planetary health. Thus, the need to include this theme in curricula is urgent and should be considered a priority in new curriculum proposals