Spectatorship

Understanding Spectatorship

  • Spectatorship refers to the study of how audiences interact with and interpret films.
  • This includes both the passive spectator - someone who just watches the film without any further action - and the active spectator - someone who engages intellectually and emotionally with the film.
  • Analyse how film content, intended audience and social context affect spectator behaviour.

Interpreting Film Centered on Spectatorship

  • Understanding films that deliberately manipulate spectatorship, playing with the audience’s expectations and preconceived notions, can highlight novel cinematic techniques.
  • Recognition of when a film uses breaking the fourth wall, directly addressing the audience, can give insights into the engagement levels expected by the filmmaker.
  • Noting when a filmmaker uses participatory elements, where spectators can impact the narrative, adds another layer to understanding spectatorship.

Response as a Spectator

  • Reflect on personal responses to a film as a form of textual analysis, considering why the film provoked these emotions.
  • Engage critically with a film, evaluating artistic choices and narrative decisions rather than passively consuming content.
  • Consider how personal context and world view shape understanding and interpretation of a film.

Spectatorship and Representation

  • Analysis of how the portrayal of different groups, such as different races, genders, or social classes, can influence spectators’ perceptions of these groups.
  • Evaluate how the depiction of stereotypes and tropes in film can precondition spectator expectations.
  • Exploration of how the representation, or lack thereof, of various groups can affect spectators’ understanding and acceptance of diversity.

Investigating the above topics would generate a deeper understanding of audience engagement with film, independent cinema’s unique methods of achieving this engagement, and how personal and social factors shape this interaction. Always remember, there is no definitive way to spectate. Different spectators will have different reactions, and interpretations, of the same film.