Understand the
Relationship between Audience and Films
Me and My Movies
In this blog, I will comprehensively explain the
relationship between the audiences and the films by using 6 theories.
·
Active Spectatorship
The theory of active spectatorship is that time when you sit
down, you want to watch a film, but you don’t know what. Then you remember that film that you haven’t
seen in a week. So naturally, you pick
that all-time favourite film of yours, the one that you can really connect to
and enjoy. Active spectatorship is the
time when you willingly watch a film, simply because you want to. Active spectatorship is when you feel
involved in the film and you feel that personal connection with either the
story or the characters, or perhaps both.
A film that connects personally to me is
Frank Darabont’s 1994 classic “The
Shawshank Redemption”. The film
tells the story of an innocent convicted man living his life in Shawshank
prison, and spends that time bonding with another prisoner, also convicted of
murder. The story develops throughout
the film and explains how prison, hardship and friendship can change minds and
find solace and redemption in a living hell.
Although a rather heavy film to watch, it’s one that I can sit down and
enjoy, even though I know the story and what happens and how it unfolds. It’s a film that I would recommend to anyone
and hope that they do watch it. The
theory in active spectatorship for me is a film that creates an emotional
response. For me, in The Shawshank Redemption, a scene that
creates an emotional response from me is the scene when Andy (Tim Robbins)
locks the prison officer in the toilet, locks the front doors in the warden’s
office and plays an Italian opera song on the record player through the
speakers for all in the prison to hear.
The warden then comes up with a lot of other prison officers and they
start bashing the door, telling him to turn it off. Andy looks up, goes to turn it off, pauses,
and then moves his hand to turn it up.
Meanwhile, the prisoners are all static, looking up at the speakers,
just listening to the music. Obviously,
this has never happened before, so they are shocked, but it’s a nice shock for
them. The warden looks at the head of
security, Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown) and tells him to bash it down. The Captain is known for being inhuman in his
inhuman methods of punishment. He smiles
nastily at Andy, and then smashes the door down. Throughout the smashing, Andy stays a smile
on his face, as although the music was short, it was the most peace he had felt
in over 10 years of being at the prison.
Andy is put in “the hole” for 2 weeks and he claims in was the easiest
time he’s ever done.
Personally, this is the most beautiful scene is film history. It shows a broken man, thrown in prison for a
murder he did not commit, finding peace and solitude in a spur-of-the-moment
action that he should not have done.
·
Framework of Interpretation
he theory of
“framework of interpretation” is the theory of the way a mind interprets a film
or a scene and then compares it with the way how said mind thought about it,
before actually watching. It’s a film
that you sit down and watch and you start with a blank page/mind. You have no idea what you’re expecting so you
are unbiased about it. It could be a
film where a friend has recommended it to you, or, if you don’t have friends,
one that you picked up at the shops because it was cheap. The framework comes from the reference
points, the parts that relate to your life experiences and how personal it
feels to you and gives you a strong reaction.
The interpretation part is the actual analysis, the understanding of the
film.
For me, this film was Tim Burton’s “Big Fish”. This film came out in 2003, and features some
top actors of interest, such as Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham-Carter, Albert Finney,
& Steve Buscemi. The storyline tells
the audience about a young man trying to learn more about his dying father by
reliving his stories and myths he told about his life. The first time I watched this film, I was
going out to my uncle’s party, so we were getting ready to leave. I turned on the television, and this film was
on, but as I was going out, I only managed to watch 10 minutes of it. It took me 3 years to find out the name of
the film as I forgot over time. Then the
recognition came when I saw a YouTube link to a scene. I never knew much about this film, but I knew
that in them short 10 minutes, it seemed to be one of those films that just
lingers in your mind and one that you can keep going back to. I instantly went on Amazon and bought a copy
of the DVD. Upon arrival, I watched it
and since that day it has been in my top 10 films list. I will say that the ending of the film was
one of the most emotional times for me during film. That feeling when you are sad but happy at
the same time, for a character. When a
mind interprets a film, it creates a powerful impact in your emotions, and
makes you feel for a character that was once just a name on a page. The ending of Big Fish is an emotional one and honestly, it made me have more
emotion than a film such as Marley and Me. My first time watching through it was always
the best, then the 2nd time watching it through got me analysing it
more. It made me realise value of not
only family, but friends. I can most
certainly say that I was not expecting Big
Fish to be one of my all-time favourite films.
My favourite scene from this film is when the main
character, Ed Bloom, portrayed by Ewan McGregor, re-enters the town of
·
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the theory that “nothing is new”. It is when 1 film references another film,
during the film. It is usually the newer
film paying homage to the older film. An
example of this is between these two films:
Ø
Battleship
Potemkin (1925) and
Ø
The Untouchables (1987)
Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925) is about the
Russian Naval Revolution in 1905. It
tells the story of the Russian Naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration
which conveyed a police massacre on the “Odessa Steps”. During that scene on the massacre, there is a
woman that is pushing a pram with a baby in.
As the police come from the top of the stairs, she is trying to down
them whilst dodging bullets and people tramping on each other to escape the
murders. This scene is very powerful to
the Russian people as hundreds of people died on them famous steps. It shows the brutality of the Russian
police. 
During this scene, there is a woman that holds an ill boy in
her arms. She tries to walk up to the
police and talk them out of murdering everyone.
By the time she reaches the base of their feet, they all aim and pull
their triggers. The woman dies along
with her son. Later in the same scene,
there is another woman reaches for a pram on the stairs. She is shot in the back and falls backwards,
knocking the pram off the platform. It
starts to roll down the stairs with the child still in. With the mother dead at the top of the stair
platform, the child dies in the pram after it crashes to the floor at the
bottom of the stair platform. Again,
this short scene shows the brutality during the naval mutiny, and the hundreds
that were murdered on the stairs by the Russian police. 
Homage is paid to this scene and this film in
later years in Brian De Palma’s The
Untouchables (1987). During a scene, it is very similar to Battleship Potemkin as there is a woman
pulling a pram up the set of stairs, but in a train station. By watching the mise-en-scene from this
scene, we can see that she is wearing dark red, which may show to blood being
split soon. The main character,
portrayed by Kevin Costner, is standing on top of the stair case, holding a
shotgun. He is scouting the area. Already, this is similar to the previous film
made 62 years before, as there is a man on top of a stair case holding a gun,
and a woman with a pram at the bottom.
The main character keeps on looking at the clock. By the tension from this scene, we can tell
that he is waiting for someone or something.
He is holding a gun, so we know that he plans on killing someone. There are a group of people walking, all
wearing sailors white uniform. And yet
again, this is similar to the previous film as the reason why the massacre
happened was due to the naval/sailors mutiny.
Later on during this scene, he starts to help the woman with the pram up
the stairs. He still holds his gun, but
it is hidden. As he reaches towards the
top, men in suits walk from behind him and he sees that they are his
targets. The scene goes quiet apart from
the sound of gunshots and the high tensioned music. As he reaches for his gun, he lets go of the
pram, and it starts to roll down the stairs.
Again, very similar to the silent film Battleship Potemkin as only music is played and he is shooting at
the enemy on the stairs. Towards the end
of this scene, all of his targets have died par one. As the pram reaches the bottom, the main
characters friend comes round and stops the pram from crashing. He is too, holding a gun and points it
towards the last enemy that is holding a man hostage. The woman screams whilst still a top of the
stairs, and she is told to stay where she is.
Panicking for her son’s life, she still is screaming. Both main characters aim their guns at the
enemy’s head, and pull the triggers. The
enemy collapses to the floor. 
·
Media Literacy
This is the theory of
critical thinking and critical analysis.
This is theory that each scene is coded by the director, then encoded by
the audience, and then decoded by the analyser.
For example, in the opening of Skins
(2007) sequence when the audience are introduced to the main characters for the
first time, we see the main character, Tony.
It starts off with a close-up of his face and then slowly zooms out to
see that he is lying in his bed in his room.
The producers and directors wanted to show what sort of a person he
is. By visuals, we can see that he is a
teenager. But the coding of the scene
shows that he isn’t a “normal” teenager, in the fact that his room is
surprisingly neat for a teen. His floor
is clear and clean. He is lying in very
“adult” duvet.
This tells the
audience that he is not a stereotypical teenager, and that he could either be
very mature for his age, or rather immature, the fact that he has naked people
on his duvet. A way to find out more
about the character is to keep on watching.
Critical thinking is what the audience does to render a message about a
character, and many audience members do it automatically.
A film that I will
analysis will be Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious
Basterds (2009). A comedy/action/war
film that gives off a powerful message to what the brutality was like of the
Nazi soldiers and also the American fictional soldiers that call themselves the
“Basterds”. Inglorious Basterds tells the fictitious story of a group of
American Jewish soldiers and their secrete mission to kill Adolf Hitler and his
relations. The film starts off with a
Western theme to it, although it is set in the East, in 
From what the German officer is wearing, we can tell that he
is a rather mysterious character, although he tries not to be. He is very clever and knows how to manipulate
people. He speaks many languages which
also throws off the French farmer.
The officer is invited into the house where he asks for a
glass of milk, although he was offered wine.
Again, this is unusual as milk is considered a glass of innocence, such
as a child’s drink. One iconic part of
the officer is how his long leather coat squeaks when he moves. Almost as if the coat is alive itself.
Critical analysis is about not only analysing the film, but
to also understand it and have the ability to make an evaluation of it.
·
Social Networking
The theory of Social
Networking, when related to the media and its film, is the theory that people
or groups can use films to communicate and to connect with other people or
groups. For example, there are many
different ways someone can express their opinion on a film, and this can lead
to others to agree or disagree on said opinion.
A blog is by far the most common method of this theory, but that is for
the people or groups who go into a lot of background research of a film. Another method could just be two friends
talking about their favourite film or even two or more strangers talking about
which scene was their favourite from a new blockbuster. There are infinite amount of ways one can
express an opinion.
A film that I wasn’t too interested to watch was James
Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014). I first saw the advert on
the television a few months prior to the cinema release, and I thought it was
just another film that was done entirely on a computer and had no ways to
interest me in depth that a film should do.
However, what with my social life, which is pretty much non-existent, I
was invited to the cinema to see the film, that was currently held in high
regards. I admitted that I wasn’t too
keen on spending money to see it, but my friend said that it was “one of the
best films” she’s seen, and that this would be her 2nd time seeing
it in the theatre. I gave in, saved a
bit of money and went to see it on a Saturday night sometime in September. Walking in the cinema and finding our seats,
along with the overly expensive popcorn we had, I was still a bit sceptical
about it. Nevertheless, the mobile
phones went off, the lights went low, and the adverts started rolling. And as usual, by the time the film had
started, I had already eaten my tub of popcorn.
Well, from the 2 hours we sat in the cinema, including the famous Marvel
after-credits scene, I must say that I had a new film I could add to my top 10
films list. A big risk it was, but now Guardians of the Galaxy is a film that I
would recommend to a friend, and also talk about this other friends that too
have seen it. It was a film that I could
relate to, understand, and to evaluate an opinion on and then discuss that
amongst friends.
Social networking is an important factor when talking about
the theories of film and to why we can relate to it. Social networking can give the audience
recommendations on what films they would like to watch, whether they have not
heard about it before, or like me, wasn’t that keen on watching it in the first
place. For me Guardians of the Galaxy was, believe it or not, the only film I
have ever pre-ordered months in advanced to its release.
·
Conditions of Reception
Conditions of Reception is the theory of how your
surroundings and your moods can change the feeling and message of a film you watch. For example, it’s Sunday afternoon, you’ve
been out all day, you’re knackered but you’ve got the energy to watch a film
before you collapse in a big heap.
You’re not going to watch a heavy going film where it takes a lot of
concentration to watch and even more concentration to stay awake. You’re going to watch a nice, calm, relaxing,
easy going film; something easy to watch and something easy to follow. This is only one example of one method of
this theory.
Another example is the location you’re in. You’re more likely to watch a film if you are
in the mood for it, and if the location you are in sets the mood.
When Toy Story 3
came out in 2010, and myself and my family being a fan of Disney, we were
pretty excited seems as it was the 3rd installation of the Toy Story
films and that the previous one was 11 years older. It was a Friday afternoon, and the rain was
pouring down. Nevertheless, my family of
5 bundled in the car and we took a drive to an old, smaller cinema based in
Folkestone. The cinema was more of a
mini theatre as it even had the red curtains that needed to be pulled back by
trolley, by the little old lady that run the place. It wasn’t what we expected it to be, but it
was nice as we had the whole cinema to ourselves. However, yet again, the price of the cinema
equalled the price of the snacks and drinks, so we passed on that. It wasn’t moments before that we went into
the Somerfield’s and stocked up on Mars bars, Cadbury’s chocolate bars, plenty
of popcorn and also Coke Cola.
The lights went out, we had our snacks and drinks at the
ready, and the film began. We didn’t
even get to the half way point before, to our annoyance, the film was paused by
the little old lady because she wanted to sell us some ice cream. I didn’t even know that ice cream was a thing
at cinemas. We declined, and to her annoyance,
the film was resumed. We were not interrupted
for the remainder.
For me, it was the location that we were in that made the
film more enjoyable, despite our interruption.
It was a small room, with black walls, red theatre seats and red curtains
and it felt very comfortable there.
Conditions of Reception
can greatly influence the audiences’ feelings about a film, whether they want
to watch it or not, pending on the film they want to watch, or where they want
to watch a film. Another example could
be is the new Fifty Shades of Grey to
come out Valentines Day 2015. For a
fact, men around the world won’t be as interested in the film as women are, and
they will also go through great depths in saying that they are not bothered to watch
it, or they generally do not agree with the concept. However, there are men that will want to
watch it, but in private or a more comfortable environment to avoid
embarrassment. Therefore, these men are
not likely to go to a cinema to watch the film, and will wait for its release
on DVD, and then buy it through the internet, and watch it at home, in
private. 