In some contexts, a photograph may be worth a thousand words. Previous research revealed a dialectical character of photographs: they simultaneously lack determinacy and exhibit an excess of meaning. The purpose of this study was to understand how, under this condition, high school students interpret photographs that were accompanied by different…

This guide accompanies "Special Effects," a 40-minute IMAX film and "Special Effects II", a multimedia, interactive traveling exhibit designed by the California Museum of Science and Industry. The exhibit focuses on the underlying scientific and technical processes of special effects from the earliest motion picture to state-of-the-art digital…