How will the study of film, in light of audience and spectator response, affect the way journalists will write
film reviews in the future?
You must reference your textbooks but also at least FOUR other additional academic sources (of which
two must be from academic journal articles later than 2008) that you have sourced from outside the
textbooks. Full referencing is required (reference list and in-text – please use APA or Harvard; you must
be consistent in your referencing style).
TEXTBOOK REFERENCES:
Sullivan J. L, (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, Users, Institutions, and Power. Thousand Oaks,
California: SAGE Publications
Phillips, P. (2007). Spectator, Audience and Response. In P. Phillips, Introduction to Film Studies
Please ensure that you emphasise the link between journalism, audiences and film studies.
Marking criteria is attached. Relevant powerpoint slides are also attached.
Film Studies
Question: How will the study of film, in light of audience and spectator response, affect the
way journalists will write film reviews in the future?
Introduction
In the above question, three main variables come under scrutiny. These are the audiences, the
journalists and the study of film. The study of film can be defined as the process of empirically
analyzing films by taking careful consideration of the components such as plot, characters,
delivery and other elements that come together to make up films. Audiences are the consumers
of films. These are the people who watch these films in the cinema as well as at home. Spectator
response is the reaction exhibited by these consumers of films when they get to partake in the
viewership of films that have been released to the public. Journalists on the other hand are the
professionals whose main role in society is to disseminate information; in this case, the
journalists under observation are those who prepare reports on different films that have been
released. These reports are the film reviews and they are often released with the aim of providing
a prospective audience member with a brief of what to expect when they go to watch a film
(Kims, 2012).
The study of film is mainly done by individuals who hope to end up working in the film industry.
Some of those already engaged in the film industry also take up film studies. They can either
take up studies that focus on film spectatorship or film consumption. Those who take up film-
spectatorship oriented studies will focus mostly on the technical aspects of film such as
production, audience interpretation and also the textual analysis of film. The branch of film
studies that deals with film consumption revolves around the human experience that is
manifested when people get to watch films. This includes activities that go hand in hand with the
movie watching experience such as gathering around a television, going to the cinema, queuing
tickets and also eating the snacks sold at such venues (Snelson and Jancovich, 2011). The bulk of
film studies in the past have focused on the spectatorship aspect which is mostly a behind-the
scenes affair. This has been done at the expense of film consumption which is only beginning to
gain recognition in this day and age. While spectatorship occasionally takes into consideration
the audiences, this is done in such a manner that likens the people watching the film as just
another component of the system. During this period, the role played by the audience was
considered to be passive and their emotional reactions and experiences uniform as intended by
the directors of the films (Sullivan, 2013).
As times progress however, this worldview of the film audience is gradually being replaced by
one that leans more towards film consumption. This point of view is centered on the experience
that the viewer of the film will have before, during and after he or she has watched a given film.
What this then does for journalists who will be preparing film reviews of the future is to
introduce a total paradigm shift in the way they will be preparing reports on these films. It
should be noted that these journalists play a very important role in the marketing and delivery of
films as a product of the entertainment industry. They not only tell prospective viewers about the
existence of these films. They play a role in the creation of expectations in the minds of people
who are planning to watch the featured films at the cinema or at their homes (Phillips, 2007).
They therefore have to structure their writings in such a manner that treats each viewer as an
individual. This subjective treatment therefore calls for open-mindedness on the part of
journalists as well as a deeper understanding of the audiences their reviews are targeting. This
way, the film reviews being prepared will achieve harmony with the actual film consumption
process spearheaded by the audiences (CMNS2600, 2014).
Film studies are already taking a step in this direction by taking the film consumption process as
one that is market in three distinct stages. The first of these stages is the ‘before’ and it is
tantamount to the Mis-en-place process of hoteliers preparing the location where a meal is going
to be consumed. In the film business, this refers to the processes of queuing for tickets, watching
previews, buying snacks and also gathering with friends or family in preparation for the film
(Nelmes, 2012).
The second step is the ‘during’ and this is where the audience actually views the film. The
experience that results from this process is as much dependent on the individual as it is on the
film itself. Each and every individual watching will have a different experience depending on his
or her level of knowledge, culture and also interest in the content of the film.
The final component of the film consumption process is the after and this too is a highly
subjective component of the process. It is at this stage when the audience member reflects on the
first two processes and makes a decision as to whether his or her expectations were met or not.
While journalists will not have much of an impact at this final stage, the first two undoubtedly go
hand in hand with the reviews they prepare (Bordwell and Carroll, 2012).
References
Bordwell, D., & Carroll, N. (Eds.). (2012). Post-theory: reconstructing film studies. University
of Wisconsin Pres.
CMNS2600 (2014) PowerPoint Presentation on Film Audiences
Kim, S. (2012). Audience involvement and film tourism experiences: Emotional places,
emotional experiences. Tourism Management, 33(2), 387-396.
Nelmes, J. (Ed.). (2012). Introduction to film studies. Routledge.
Snelson, T., & Jancovich, M. (2011). ‘No Hits, No Runs, Just Terrors’: Exhibition, Cultural
Distinctions and Cult Audiences at the Rialto Cinema in the 1930s and 1940s. Explorations in
New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies, 197-211.
Sullivan J. L, (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, Users, Institutions, and Power. Thousand Oaks,
California: SAGE Publications
Phillips, P. (2007). Spectator, Audience and Response. In P. Phillips, Introduction to Film
Studies
