Eye-tracking Data on Film Viewing: Comparable Video Stimuli in Portrait and Landscape Format

This dataset contains eye-tracking data collected in the Spring 2025 using a Tobii TX300 eye-tracker. The data was gathered from an initial sample of 33 participants, three of whom were subsequently excluded due to low gaze sample validity, resulting in a final analytical sample of 30 participants. This dataset serves as the foundational material for the analysis presented in an article that has been submitted to the journal Projections. The collected data underwent a rigorous cleaning and pre-processing pipeline to ensure optimal quality for analysis. Specifically, segments corresponding to the initial fixation cross and the eye-tracker calibration procedure were systematically removed. Furthermore, the dataset was filtered to exclude manually annotated segments relating to a specific sequence in the Midsommar stimulus, characterized by rapid artificial panning. Two additional filtering criteria were applied to the fixations themselves: fixations exceeding a duration of 2000 milliseconds were removed as outliers, and any fixations registered outside the active video viewing area were also excluded. The dataset package is fully supported by accompanying R scripts to facilitate reproducibility and utility for other researchers. A dedicated R script is included that fully details the data processing steps described above, explaining the exact methodology used to create the cleaned dataset from the raw output. In addition, further R scripts are provided that contain the code used for the analyses pertaining to the individual hypotheses and research questions addressed in the submitted journal article. This dataset is part of a research project “Shortform Narratives, Audiences and Perception” supported by OP JAC Project “MSCA Fellowships at Palacký University III.” CZ.02.01.01/00/22_010/0008685, run at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee at Royal Holloway, University of London (Reference ID: 637).