Introduction

It is with great pleasure that we present the first issue of The Journal of Moving Image Studies. The need for such a journal has become increasingly apparent during six years of lively discussions and vigorous debates carried on via e-mail and face to face at a series of international conferences, always with the greatest of mutual respect and genuine good humor. What began as a small group of film scholars with diverse interests who shared a common goal of bringing the methods and findings of cognitive science to bear upon the problems related to understanding motion pictures has rapidly become an association of scholars and researchers around the world.

The Journal will provide an ongoing forum and make possible a rapid exchange of ideas and information. The focus will be on investigation, synthesis, and insight that might be described as "truth-tracking" rather than "doctrine-driven." It will be peer-reviewed, welcome a diversity of views, and function as an honest broker in the marketplace of ideas.

I extend my congratulations and personal thanks to the editors Ben Meade and Stuart Minnis, to the assistant editor Timothy Burchfield, and to the students and staff who worked to bring this first issue into existence for all of us.

Joseph Anderson, Director
Center for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image

Atlanta, December 2001

Manuscripts may be submitted to the Journal of Moving Image Studies by presenting them as attachments to an e-mail letter addressed to the editors and stating the intention to submitt for publication.