Monday, 13 March 2017

Popular Film and Emotional Response. Students as individual spectators

Students as individual spectators

Example exam question:



15. How far do spectators respond to the emotional content of films in the way that the filmmakers intended? [35]


Starter: Make notes on the whiteboards. 

Why do you think it makes sense for filmmakers to try to appeal to the intellect and the emotions of the film spectator?


This study is concerned with the ways in which popular film (whether deriving from Hollywood or elsewhere) produces powerful sensory and emotional responses in the spectator. It is possible to focus on a particular genre – such as horror and consider shock effects – or the melodrama as ‘weepie’. Alternatively, the focus may be on spectacle, whether relating to the body of the star or the staging/choreography of action. This topic is  not concerned specifically with issues of representation or value judgements but rather with developing understanding about how films create the emotional responses they do.  It is expected that a minimum of two feature-length films will be studied for this topic.




Task 1: Write down one sequence from City of God that you had an emotional response to.



Task 2: Write down one sequence from Natural Born Killers. that you had an emotional response to.



Task 3: Write down one sequence from The Crying Game
 that you had an emotional response to.


An alternative definition of emotion is a "positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity.“

Task 4: In your groups, discuss and then record (individually) what main kinds of emotions you think can be felt by film spectators – feed back to the class.

Task 5: HOMEWORK.
On the handout provided, indicate why you may have responded emotionally to the extract of each film. Consider style/language/Narrative/Performance.





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