The persistence of vision refers to the phenomenon that occurs in the human eye, retaining an image for about 1/16 of a second after the image has already disappeared. The human eye and brain continue to see the image after it has already happened, making leaps between still frames.
The movement that we perceive then, is a result of the process of our sense of vision and our brains which create synthesis or fluidity or a kind of unified movement between two static images. The mediums of visual media use this ability to portray movement when there isn't actually any. The movement is invisible, yet we perceive it.
In experimenting with exposure in the different variations of filming the film, horizontal, moving stripes started appearing in the image. In changing the amount of exposure, I could weaken or strengthen the intensity, size and color of the stripes; the scans that the camera picked up were what my persistence of vision ability didn't allow. In filming the first time, I was able to adjust the exposure to get rid of them, however in filming the film I was not. I decided to test what it does to my perception of the image and my physical state in watching these scans and became tired, meditative and slightly hypnotized, but I also began to see other things in the image; the image itself changed from a film with stripes to an immersive experience of texture and depth.
Because of our PoV, the "moving" picture of film exists, and can be used by film- and animation-makers to instill the illusion of perfection and unity. In playing with multi-layered images with high exposure, I exposed the stillness in between them and could begin to reveal the equally intriguing aspects of image and perception such as discontinuation, abrupt and unplanned change, blackness/emptiness and disorder. What are the still frames in movies, TV or visual media, what power (or lack of) might they have? Could the camera highlight the necessity for PoV in film and help us to de-priotize and horizontalize our sense of sight and the way we perceive? Could it then subvert the dominance we (subconciously) give to the visual and the dominance patriarchy and systems of power give to sight, its artificial perfection, its persistence of coherence and beauty? Visual media is gaining more and more presence, especially as we rely on the internet and social media to connect with each other as a result of COVID19. Isn't it imperative that our ability to see something in the present as well as up to 1/16 of a second in the past is experimented with, reconfigured, laid bare, so that coherence, perfection and fluidity can also be reconfigured and exposed, allowing other ways of perceiving to emerge?