Analysing Spectatorship Is this engagement with spectatorship active or passive?
The camera s point of view on the world it films necessarily includes assumptions about the spectators of that world. Dutoit and Bersani Forms of Being
Exam Board Specifcations A central part of Film Studies is exploring how films address individual spectators through, for example, particular shots, editing, music and performance as well as narrative and genre to engage their interest and emotions. Films are generally constructed to provide the spectator with a particular viewing position, most often aligning the spectator with a specific character or point of view. This in turn raises questions about how determined spectators' responses to a film are and how far spectators can and do resist the position they are given. Learners will thus consider how far spectators are passive or active in their responses to film and how social and cultural factors, as well as the specific viewing conditions in which a film is seen, influence spectators' responses.
This area of study will be assessed through American film since 2005 (Component 1, Section B): how the spectator has been conceived both as passive and active in the act of film viewing how the spectator is in dynamic interaction with film narrative and film features designed to generate response reasons for the uniformity or diversity of response by different spectators the impact of different viewing conditions on spectator response the analysis of narrative, visual, musical, performance, genre and auteur cues in relation to spectator response the possibility of preferred, negotiated, oppositional and aberrant readings of film
Active Vs. Passive Consumption Media texts are consumed by different audiences in different ways an audience member can be Passive or Active Passive a passive model of consumption suggests that texts have an effect on the audience Active an active model instead suggests that audiences interact with the text to create meaning
So, how actively engaged are we?
1. The effects model (or bullet theory) The earliest theories imagined that mass media had very strong effects on their audiences. This model saw the media message as a kind of "magic bullet." Sent out by the organization, the magic bullets "hit" the members of the audience in their "minds" and changed their thoughts.
The bullet theory assumed that an audience was passive, waiting for the media to shoot a propaganda message into it, and would roll over in a state of docile surrender when hit, as long as the bullet was sufficiently powerful. La La Land is in the media. Must watch La La Land.
2. The Uses and Gratifications Model In the uses and gratifications approach the audience is active. Audience members are seen as consumers of a media product, and as with consumers of other goods and services, they shop around, consider alternatives, and make choices.
Uses and Gratifications: Personal Identity Using the medium of film to: Finding reinforcement for personal values Finding models of behaviour Gaining insight into one's self Identifying with valued other (through extended media)
In this view media becomes just one of many cultural influences in our environment, and far from the most important. La La Land? No, I d rather read philosophy.
3. Two-step Flow (or Interpersonal Diffusion) This theory states that certain members of the audience, called "opinion leaders," would be more influential than other members. In theory the opinion leaders would make up their minds as to what the media messages meant and then tell their friends and neighbours.
However, different people seem to be the opinion leaders on different subjects. Because of this, it was (and continues to be) very difficult to find a simple explanation for the spread, or diffusion, of the content of media messages through a society. That looks great! That looks terrible! I want to see that!
Which theory is right? Effects model (or bullet model, or hypodermic model) Uses and gratifications model Two-step flow (or interpersonal diffusion model)
Audience Classification It is useful to split audiences into these categories: Socio-Economic Status Demographics Psychographics/mood Technology
Demographics Demographics are static attributes that rarely change They refer to an audience s: Age / Gender / Ethnicity / Sexual Orientation / Regional Identity https://www.statista.com/statistics/296240/age-and-gender-of-the-cinemaaudience-uk/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/296240/age-and-gender-of-the-cinema-audience-uk/
Psychographics/Mood Psychographics can change over time They reflect an audience member s: Attitudes Personality Values
Technology The medium that an audience uses to consume film This could refer to: ITV / IMAX / Netflix / Art Cinema / Multiplex
Examples of Constructed Audiences A Playstation 3 audience An elderly audience A gay audience A Twitter audience A tired (post-work) audience
Integration and Social Interaction Gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction Having a substitute for real-life companionship (parasocial relationship) Enabling one to connect with family, friends and society
Entertainment Escaping, or being diverted, from problems Relaxing Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment Filling time Emotional release Sexual arousal
Critics have raised eyebrows at the gender politics of this film on the back of these scenes arguing that they present the male lead as the artist, the female lead as mostly observer, contributing to decades of fetishising male artists while dismissing women as primarily muses or facilitators of male art and ambition. The new Statesman But it s impossible to separate jazz from black history, and it s downright foolish to do so in a film by, for and largely about white people. The Guardian Notably, La La Land was also criticized for its lack of gay characters on the basis that, well, there are a lot of gay people in Los Angeles but none in the film. Whether you think this is fair or not, it s going to continue to be an issue until Hollywood more generally solves its problem of inequality in gender, race and sexual identity. The Guardian
For a film that seems self-consciously apolitical, there have been many critics who have suggested that it s precisely the lack of political engagement and obsession with nostalgia that makes it worthy of political dissection. Exam board notes Is it fair to criticise La La Land in this way? Refer to issues of spectatorship.