Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective characterized by discontinuous or sporadic movement; jerky.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or related to the rapid movement of the eyes between points of fixation

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Restless Cities Walking TourLFA invites the adventurous on this "saccadic stroll" led by Esther Leslie, professor of political aesthetics at London's Birkbeck College.

    Best of the London Festival of Architecture 2010

  • Late in the evening, a person afoot on rue Quelle Blague might, by the moans and shrieks and saccadic protests, have imagined themselves passing not a monastery but a hospital or a brothel or a combination of the two.

    La insistencia de Jürgen Fauth 2010

  • The saccadic movements of your eyes as you scan the words, capturing photons, transform the energy of photons captured on a farm not long ago.

    Archive 2008-11-01 doyle 2008

  • Higher still, a condor hovers, tracking the soundless, moving line of rectangular carriages with saccadic movements of its eyes.

    justinker Diary Entry justinker 2008

  • The saccadic movements of your eyes as you scan the words, capturing photons, transform the energy of photons captured on a farm not long ago.

    Grace doyle 2008

  • In contrast, the time compression reported here only occurred with visual stimuli, not with auditory clicks, and was largely independent of saccadic size.

    Mind Hacks: Time compression 2005

  • In contrast, the time compression reported here only occurred with visual stimuli, not with auditory clicks, and was largely independent of saccadic size.

    Mind Hacks: July 2005 Archives 2005

  • Also lending a hand may be a neural mechanism which turns off saccadic suppression if the velocity of the eyes matches that of a moving object with your eyes stationary a moving object is blurred, with your eyes moving a stationary object is blurred, but if your eyes move at the same speed as an object you can get a clear image.

    Mind Hacks: Hack #103: See more with your eyes closed 2005

  • Also lending a hand may be a neural mechanism which turns off saccadic suppression if the velocity of the eyes matches that of a moving object with your eyes stationary a moving object is blurred, with your eyes moving a stationary object is blurred, but if your eyes move at the same speed as an object you can get a clear image.

    Mind Hacks: August 2005 Archives 2005

  • Concetta Morrone, John Ross and David Burr have just reported in Nature Neuroscience that subjective time is compressed around the onset of a saccadic eye movement.

    Mind Hacks: Time compression 2005

Comments

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  • Jerky, spasmodic motion. Bordwell uses it in reference to the camera motions in the movie The Bourne Ultimatum. See also Queasicam.

    August 24, 2007

  • It's used in optometry-speak, too--refers to the fast, jerky movements of the eye that help redirect the line of sight. The movements help the eyes fix on a stationary object as the head turns or as a person moves.

    August 24, 2007

  • That's the idea I get from its use on Bordwell's site. The jerky, nervous camera with ever-changing focus is supposed to imitate the path of the human eye as it seeks out relevant information and moves past everything else. The director uses it to steer our attention towards the plot points he wants us to see; but the technique also steers us away from flaws like poor acting or set design. Some have argued that it's a directorial cop-out disguised as artistic vision.

    August 24, 2007

  • I don't know much about film directing. But it's one thing to have your own eyeballs be saccadic. It's another to have the motion forced on you by a camera. It has always felt jarring to me, no matter what effect the director is aiming for, because it isn't your own eyes doing the "jumping"; it's chosen for you. And it does make one feel queasy at times--well, at least it does so for me.

    By the way, thanks for the website link. I'd not seen it before. :-)

    August 24, 2007

  • Agreed. I just found that site myself and thought I'd share it. I've always found cinematography fascinating and this guy seems to have a real insider's perspective on the art. And he can write, too. ;-)

    August 24, 2007

  • Yes, he can! I always enjoy a good writer. :-)

    Too bad chained_bear isn't around these days--another cinematography buff....

    August 24, 2007

  • *yoinked* to my adjectives list!

    May 5, 2011

  • *yoinked* again to my cc list.

    May 5, 2011