EXAM TOPIC
Spectatorship - Popular Film and Emotional Response
In Film Studies, the exploration of people's responses to film is termed 'spectatorship'.
Spectatorship is about studying spectators and exploring how and why people respond to films as they do. It involves exploring:
The impact of the film viewing experience - the environment.
The impact on people of the way films are constructed - their micro and macro features.
The degree to which all spectators respond in the same way.
"A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate and love.”
How is Emotion Provoked?
Popular films manipulate their audience's emotions in order to provide pleasure. This unit is concerned with examining how this is done.
Narrative and themes.
Characters.
Imagery.
Sound.
Dialogue.
Performance.
Cinematography.
These could all be summarised as:
MANIPULATION
IDENTIFICATION
IMMERSION
Emotional Involvement and Identification
We are encouraged to IDENTIFY with characters; to become emotionally involved with them, to feel as they do.
This process of identification is sometimes called Alignment and refers to the way spectators are encouraged to relate to characters' emotions as well as to adopt their point of view.
The emotional impact of a film frequently depends on spectator alignment with central characters.
Preferred Reading
The degree to which all spectators respond in the same way.
Do all spectators respond the same way?
Does gender make a difference? Class, race, religion?
The response that a director intends to create is the 'preferred reading' but this is not always what the spectator experiences.
Sample Questions
Key Texts
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
(Frank Darabont 1994)
Please click here for detailed information on this film.
Popular films manipulate their audience's emotions in order to provide pleasure. This unit is concerned with examining how this is done.
Narrative and themes.
Characters.
Imagery.
Sound.
Dialogue.
Performance.
Cinematography.
These could all be summarised as:
MANIPULATION
IDENTIFICATION
IMMERSION
Emotional Involvement and Identification
We are encouraged to IDENTIFY with characters; to become emotionally involved with them, to feel as they do.
This process of identification is sometimes called Alignment and refers to the way spectators are encouraged to relate to characters' emotions as well as to adopt their point of view.
The emotional impact of a film frequently depends on spectator alignment with central characters.
The degree to which all spectators respond in the same way.
Do all spectators respond the same way?
Does gender make a difference? Class, race, religion?
The response that a director intends to create is the 'preferred reading' but this is not always what the spectator experiences.
Sample Questions
1. 1. Explore possible reasons to explain why a second or third viewing of a film can actually increase the emotional response rather than lessen it.
2. 2. How far is emotional response to mainstream films triggered by specific techniques used by the filmmakers?
3. 3. From your experience, is it true to say that the emotional impact of some films comes from their subject matter whilst for other films the impact is created through the use of cinematic devices?
4. 4. From your studies, discuss what you have found to be some of the most interesting ways in which filmmakers produce an emotional effect on the spectator. Make detailed reference to specific films in your answer.
5. 5. “It is when film spectators are being shocked that they are most aware that they are being manipulated.” Has this been your experience? Make detailed reference to film extracts you have studied in developing your answer.
6. 6. ‘One of the greatest pleasures of popular cinema is surrendering to the film experience and allowing ourselves to be emotionally manipulated.’ Discuss this statement with reference to the films you have studied for this topic.
7. 7. ‘Emotional response to a popular film is dependent on the ways in which we are made to identify with particular characters.’ How far has this been your experience?
Key Texts
(Frank Darabont 1994)
Please click here for detailed information on this film.
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