Every time visiting to the cinema, are we only going for the plot or visual effect (car chasing, explosion, etc.) ? Some might say yes , but that won’t be different from watching at home then.
As what have been elaborated in the reading, Roland mentioned that anonymity, darkness and ambiguity are those major elements composing the cinematography hypnosis. Immerse oneself in the dark, although perceiving the existence of other audience, we cannot actually realize it. Since dark has merely covered up our vision, making us focusing on the screen. Unlike watching at home, there won’t be your beloved cat walking around, nor the smell of mom’s cooking from the kitchen. We are an somehow single entity participating the movie story.
We get into cinema to isolate ourselves from outside to be involved into movies, yet we are still in a society, but a cinema society. For me, no matter how fascinating the movie is, I am always capable to sense the reality without getting disturbed surprisingly. Echoing the reading, dim light reflecting on the front sitter’s head, light beam passing from the projector overhead… These somehow draw you back to the reality. Not a movie buff myself, I always like to sit in the middle, for a closer look of the screen but also not being distracted by too much detail — sometimes our vision will be occupied by unnecessary contents if we sit too close. This ambiguous distance makes us disjoint from reality but not completely lost.
I appreciate how you present the idea of Berths’ movie-watching experience connecting with your own understanding and experience, mainly focusing on the difference between watching a movie at home and in the theater. You stated your response with a question and tried to unfold it later, which is compelling to read. For clarity, could you elaborate further on what you mean by “too much detail” and “unnecessary content” in your last paragraph? How are they also connected with the sitting position?
‘Detail’ and ‘unnecessary content’ can refer to objects unrelated to plot in movies. When sitting closer to the screen, it also means higher occupancy of objects in audience’s view. Increasing in relative size of these objects, e.g. street cars, pedestrians or even trash, sometimes may distract audience from understanding the plot. Yes, objects are usually used as clues, hints or foreshadows to attract viewers. Yet it highly relies on director’s well use of aperture, focal length and camera movement… One bad example can be Will Smith’s Gemini Man. The movie is in 3D, 4K and 120fps set up. Lots of close-up shots are applied, but viewers are able to see pores clearly during these scenes. They are too obvious to not be ignored. Most critics said they were annoyed by these unrelated details. Besides, giving up on plot, yet putting most effort into movie specifications, also makes the movie lose sense of realness the audience have said, since it feels like a news report than movie when high fps comes into movies.