A few weeks ago, I learned that one of the arguments filmmakers used against the screening of films at home, on a television set, was that the theater experience is an essential component to the movie experience. The idea was that, at home, the viewer does not have access to the dark room (full of movie enthusiasts like yourself), the big screen, and the loud sound systems that movie theaters encompass. While it is true for the most part, they also fail to include the fact that in such theater rooms, an individual lacks any power to control certain aspects of the experience. The only thing one can choose, at times, is where to sit; that means, however, that the majority of viewers will not have the most ideal angle of view; what’s more, if you sit very close to the edge, the left speakers, for instance, might be too loud and throw you off. This is why I think selecting a seat by the center is the best spot. Screening a film at home, on the other hand, also has its cons.
Yesterday, the day after thanks giving, I felt like watching a film. I selected a movie from Kanopy, an online streaming service free to Hunter students. In contrast to movie theaters, where one has a very limited choice of films, I had many films I could jump into either by chance or by rigorous selection. I found a film from 1991 under the category of ‘World Cinema’. I selected The Scent of Green Papaya after a number of times checking out trailers for films within the category on YouTube. For this particular film, though, I did not find any trailers; instead, I found clips which gave me a strong reference point from which I was able to foresee how the film was going be like. Initially, I had whole-wheat bread with Hershey syrup in it. Later, I ate the rest of a Pringles can my brother had left in the fridge.
Several times throughout the film, I found myself adjusting the angle of the screen (tilting up or down) based on how I was sitting. My couch is particularly uncomfortable, and my body was tired because I had worked an 8-hour shift from 8:30 in the morning. Also, I controlled the volume and screen brightness a few times in order to get the precise level of visibility and sound I wanted. I was very self-aware about my actions since I was thinking of writing a paper for this prompt. Nevertheless, this did not take my concentration off the narrative. I was able to dive into it, and by the time it was done, I was eager to watch more. I had many questions about what had happened during the 10-year time lapse in the movie, and I had questions about the future of the characters all the same. Very seldom do I have this feeling when coming out of movie theaters. In fact, I do not think I have ever had this experience in a movie theater because (I think) it has always been about entertainment, in contrast to intellectual or aesthetic enjoyment. The fact is that, to my knowledge, few of the big-shot theaters, such as amc®, screen movies of the Drama genre. Yes, there is plenty of drama in block-busters; but there is no silent drama: the type of movie that keeps you watching and thinking, as opposed to feeding you with information on and on.
In all honesty, I am not trying to say that my particular experience at home was best in relation to a movie theater experience. I still lack many important aspects that can ultimately draw me into a film. Normally, when I screen at home I watch the film on my 40-inch TV screen. Yesterday, I felt lazy to connect the laptop and the speakers.
I dream of creating a home theater one day, where the screen size, its resolution, the quality and volume of the sound, as well as the positioning and comfortableness of the seats will be adjusted to my preferences. Ultimately, this will provide me the optimal viewing experience.
