1. Spectatorship
Explained
Ambiguity, Fear,
Laughter, Desire,
Surprise, Shock,
Adrenaline,
Challenging,
Inspired.
Spectatorship: the ways film produces
pleasure in an individual viewer.
Technical elements
used by the
filmmaker?
If we watch the same
film, can different
spectators have
different emotional
responses?
Question
What can effect
these responses?
Question
Reception Theory
An audience responds in multiple
ways dependent on their personal
context.
Our personal context is
our own experience,
knowledge and
ideologies.
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Spectators now will respond
differently to those who watched it
at the time.
READINGS
Preferred: Spector takes the intended
meaning of the text.
Negotiated: Spectator doesn’t take
the full meaning of the text.
Oppositional: Spectator doesn’t
recognise the meanings in the film.
RESPONSES Social Self
Spectator makes meanings similar to
others with similar ideologies.
Cultural Self
Spectator makes intertextual references
based on their own awareness.
Private Self
Spectator relates film to their own
memories and experiences. Find
personal significance in the film.
Desiring Self
Spectator brings their own energy and
intensity to the film that has little to do
with the content of the film.
A2 Film: FM4 – Spectatorship & Documentary