Watching with others

A forum for sharing views on the art of film, video and AV sequence making as well as on competitions, judging and festivals.
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TimStannard
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Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:20 pm
Location: Surrey

Watching with others

Post by TimStannard »

In a thread about UNICA which went a bit off topic into festivals, Dave mentioned the difference between watching in a small or a large group (one of the benefits of festivals, obv). He's absolutely right and I'd argue the difference is between watching alone and even a small group is at least as significant.

This is especially true for films that play with one's emotions and I would suggest critical for one's enjoyment of a comedy.

Whilst judging BIAFF these past two years has meant we have been able to watch and listen to the films in far better visual and audio quality than we have had in the past, some films suffer because we are watching alone. Even with four people in a room it makes a huge difference.

Imagine you are watching a comedy: another person reacts in an almost imperceptible way to something on screen, this triggers you to recap the last second (probably much less) of film and you become aware of something you might otherwise have missed and react yourself. This all happens subconciously, in a split second. You have benefitted from being aware of a joke you would otherwise have missed. The joke count for that film has increased.

Of course this might also be to the detriment of a film. You may have blinked or been otherwise distracted and missed a particularly awkward cut, for example, and the same process can enable you to replay and notice.

And then there's the stuff we are aware of. Obviously comedy is much funnier if everyone around you is laughing, and we know how contagious that can be. Similarly horror or gore. It's unpleasant, but I can just about watch graphic scenes of torture alone, but put me in a room full of others who are all making sounds of distaste/disgust and I'll find it far worse.

How about a thriller/suspense. We know the killer is hiding in one of those shadows, we know the hero knows it too, yet, even though it's expected, when the killer suddenly springs out and attacks, we jump. But we jump so much more in a room full of other people jumping.
Tim
Proud to be an amateur film maker - I do it for the love of it
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