The section that left the deepest impression on me was the author’s insistence that the cinematic experience cannot be replicated with televisions or, more recently, laptops and smartphones. According to him, the lighting, sound, and the little bits and bobs that one sees in a cinema contributes greatly to the experience. For me personally, what with the COVID situation and all, I found that I have been missing the overwhelming sound coverage that is very difficult to replicate at home. In cinemas, especially if one is watching action movies, the volume is often a little too loud for comfort. So loud, in fact, that one’s seat often vibrates along with the soundtrack. But it is exactly that slight discomfort that somehow completes the movie and gives it the life that seems to be missing when you watch from home, where it doesn’t seem to be as much of an occasion.
Li Ming Chak David – 3035785570
It’s great that you tried to relate the text with the current COVID situation.
it would be great if you could possibly unpack a bit more on how different elements of the cinema (like sound – the element you focused in the response) construct the unique viewing experience at the movie theatre in Bathes’ view. “sound is merely a supplementary instrument of representation; it is meant to integrate itself unobtrusively into the object shown, it is in no way detached from this object;[…] blurring the scene shown by the screen yet without distorting its image (its gestalt, its meaning).” (1986, 347)
To reflect further, does the act of leaving the movie theatre also contribute to the difference in experience with watching a movie at home?