How can a poiesis of film-viewing, an idea of cinematic thinking be grasped and described? According to our understanding, this can only succeed where this thinking manifests itself as a visible and audible modulation of space and time, namely in the patterns of audio-visual composition and the poetics of images grounded therein.

In order to make these patterns tangible for a wide scope of research subjects, we continuously work on the development of computer-based methods, digital tools, and software solutions for systematic media analysis. The challenge of comparative analysis is to make  the audio-visual patterns of expression in their spatial and temporal dynamics accessible for empirically reliable  studies.

Our method development is based on eMAEX, a computer-based, systematic method for the qualitative, descriptive analysis of audio-visual images. This approach is constantly being refined and adapted. In our partner project "Audio-Visual Rhetorics of Affect" we have developed concrete software solutions for the annotation and qualitative analysis of dynamic staging patterns.

Another central aspect of our development work are multimedia-based modes for presenting the respective analytical results. The aim here is to free thinking and speaking about audiovisual images from text fixation in scientific communication and to transfer it to multimedia forms of representation and reflection.