American film since 2005

Main theme of Spectatorship - in Paper 1

1) Western genre established from the outset w/ narration + wide open American desert landscapes
2) reflective sombre mood
3) Western


Key areas:
. Ideology
. Spectatorship


Spectatorship:
. How micro features engage spectators
. Ideology and how they align the spectator to it
. Active vs passive
. Impact of social and cultural influences
. Expectations of a Cohen brothers film

. Spectatorship generalises  -  more about the relationship of the individual to the screen/ film
. Audience response more about the money it took, less about what they thought of the film
. Spectatorship theory - how different individuals would react differently

Spectator reaction factors:
. Are they tired
. Are they delirious
. Where they're watching it - regional/ culture
. Who they're watching it with
. When? seasonal, context
. Quality of the cinema
. Who; Age, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political alignment, nationality, socio-economic background,
. Where;


Stuart Hall:

Preferred
. Spectator derives meaning from a film that the filmmaker intended: These spectators are relatively passive
- Die Hard; Yay family at Christmas, American values!

Negotiated
. Spectator negotiates the film's messages, accepting some whilst disagreeing with others
- Die Hard; East Germany is still in ruins, so he has to steal!

Oppositional
. Spectator understands the film's messages but rejects them
- American family values are right-wing constructed distraction to suppress left-wing

AND

Aberrant
. Spectator derives unintentional or atypical messages from a film that do not correlate with others' views

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