In the reading ‘Leaving the Movie Theater,’ the author describes how can unique spatial aspects of movie theatres help the audience immerse into the movie world.Things in cinema are all carefully designed to create a cinematic experience that cannot be replicated at home by watching Netflix or Disney+ on TV. The large curved screens, cozy seats, complete darkness, and surround sound effects… to name but a few.   For me, the cinema is a perfect place to watch sci-fi and action movies, as the immersive environment allows me to fully enjoy the film. Recently, I watched the sci-fi movie ‘Avatar:

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[Reading Response: Walter Benjamin] The work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media express the relationship between technology and art piece. The writer thinks that traditional art piece contains some major concept, including creativity and special value, which is different from those made by technology. The writer claimed that technological reproduction is different than we thought, it has some advantages, such as a longer preservation length. On the other hand, the authenticity of art will not be affected by technology, and it maybe devalued. The use of technology will minimize the usage of

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The article “Leaving the Movie Theatre” describes the features of a theatre that make people immerse themselves in a film, such as the dark environment, the light coming from the camera, the distance between people and the screen, and the sound. In my opinion, darkness is a big part of what gets people hooked on a film. Compared to watching a movie in the living room at home, the bright light, coffee table, TV cabinet, and other architectural elements of the home always remind us that we are moving around the home space. These often prevent us from concentrating on

Continue readingReading Response: Roland Barthes

Both texts, by Barthes and Benjamin, refer to the development of film as a mode of mass entertainment through industrial replication. This analysis reminds me of the broader work of the Frankfurt school, particularly Adorno and Horkheimer’s (1947/2002) theory of the culture industry and the use of mass media as a tool of social control. Film, through its ready replicability, allows for a uniform messaging reaching unprecedentedly large audiences. But whose views are represented? For Adorno and Horkheimer, mass media reflects the bias of the superstructure, primarily representing bourgeois interests. This is partially achieved through the practical considerations of filmmaking

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The movie theater has a lot in common with hypnosis. People go into a theater to spend their free time and enjoy leisure, so it makes sense that the theater is decorated in ways to make people escape from reality. The darkness of the cinema tries to completely isolate viewers from their surroundings, leaving an unfamiliar but relaxing place for us to fully concentrate on the film, while the only light there should be from the screen, distinguishing the film itself from the dark surrounding. In this case, viewers can be guided to indulge in the story of the film.

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