My film study comes to an end but hopefully your film viewing experiences never will...

I hate to sadden any hearts but it is that time in the semester where I conclude my blogging on individuals film viewing experiences! I hope that you all enjoyed reading about what I have learned from doing research on the works of scholars and what I learned through the mouths of students and professors on my campus. This study has opened my eyes to many new films and genres of film that I never would have explored if it were not for the opinions of those I had a chance to talk with. I am very happy I chose to study the realm of film viewing criteria because, even as a film major, I have never studied the motivation behind the eyes of other students and professors film viewing experiences in such detail.

This project has opened my eyes to a lot and I hope it will provide other individuals with helpful information, including scholars who have touched on this subject in their past research. When I started researching any past work done on film viewing criteria, I was surprised to find nothing. Scholars had done a lot of research on the psychological implications left on people due to the films they watched, but none of them explained the motivation behind peoples choices. Many articles focused on violence in films and how much it affects people. It is always interesting to learn about what we think about and learn from films we watch, but it is not the focus of my study. I wanted to learn why professors and students like me are motivated to watch films. Even before college I was obsessed with watching films and studying how they were made. I have always had a passion to make films one day because of the huge impact they have had on my life. As cheesy as it may sound, many films I have viewed in the past have been directly related to my life in some way. There are always morals and lessons you can take out of films and connect to your life. A lot of times I watch movies that I know focus on characters struggling with similar problems that I am having a hard time with.

Through my interviews, I noticed many themes people hold which I have touched on in my past blogs, so I won't reiterate what I have already told you. I do want to talk a little about how this project has affected me. I have always been somewhat of a film snob and I have always loved critiquing films. As I conducted interviews, I learned that I am very biased towards certain types of films and I am not as open to trying new films as I thought I was. I made sure to ask questions that were not biased towards the types of films I love and I also made sure to interview a wide range of students and professors. This way it was not just people that I already knew, having possibly biased in the past with my ideas. After all of the interviews were done I realized that there is so much more in the realm of film for me to watch and learn about.

Although it was a pain searching for scholarly works that did not exist on my topic, I am glad that I did not find anything because it forced me to learn as much as possible from a study that appears to have never been researched. I hope that this study encourages scholars to explore the realm of film viewing, as well as offering a challenge for them to learn about the motivation of individuals film choices, just like it challenged me. My wish is that this blog has been informative and helpful to all of the readers that love watching films just like myself. Every time a teacher or someone in a leadership role teaches you a lesson they always end by saying the same thing, which is now a part of my philosophy in life. If you get anything out of what I have told you about people's film viewing experiences let it be that you have an open mind at all times and that you view unique and different films. When you are deciding on a film to watch, branch out and try something new! Something as simple as watching films can have a big impact on an individual's life and I hope that one day my films will challenge you in some way.

Advertising and genre have the power to sway our film choices thanks to our favorite genres...

As I finish up my interviews, advertising has proven to have a huge impact on the viewer. Whether the student or professor I interviewed was associated with the film program or not, advertising was mentioned as a big role in their film viewing. There is always an exception; however, a thrilling trailer or enticing poster tends to draw the potential viewer’s attention. Depending on the genre, the advertisement will be different. Advertisements for a comedy will often contain a few of the funniest parts from that certain film, in order to cause the viewer to laugh and display the nature of the film. On the other hand, an advertisement for a drama will show a taste of the plot and will often leave the viewer feeling an intense emotion about the film.

The genre of the film poses to be quite important to all motion picture viewers. Not one interviewee I spoke with had left out the importance of genre when choosing a film. Although non-film and film students and professors selected different types of genres, both spoke of the importance of viewing films within comfortable genres. Often the advertisement will play into viewer’s choices because it displays the genre and nature of the film; therefore, if a viewer tends to be more comfortable within a certain genre, the advertising will easily sway them one way or the other.

"Film" reviews only seem critical to those in the "Film" program...

Based on my interviews, I have found that film students and professors tend to hold critic reviews in higher regard than those who are not in the film program. Often times, film students will look to reviews to decide whether or not a film will be worth seeing. These critic reviews are viewed as trusted sources to those in the realm of film because they have worked hard to get where they are in the industry and base their reviews on the same criteria each time. This way, critic reviews prove to contain little to no bias on the critic’s part and therefore are more reliable than the reviews of peers or making a decision based on an actor or advertising. Non-film students and professors tend to rely on other means, leaving critic reviews as a last resort for the information on an upcoming film.

Whether the student or professor is a real film snob or not, they tend to heavily rely on some of the basic peer reviewed websites, which give a rating and synopsis of the film. Some of these websites are on a scale of one to ten, others go by a percentage between zero and one hundred. The majority of film students have told me that they at the very least visit two or three simple review websites. However, a large amount of the film students also admitted to researching more in depth websites with acclaimed critic reviews. I was happy that I found time to interview one of the busiest, but most highly recommended film students, for his work done here at the university. He told me a lot about the process he takes when reviewing upcoming films and the specific reviews that never let him down. I was very happy to learn about more critic reviews that I did not already know about because I feel they will benefit me, considering I have much of the same taste in films as he does.

Although reviews can be very helpful and beneficial to students and professors it is important to find an established website or article because some reviews lack credibility and have little to offer potential audience members. I have read many reviews that were not helpful and had a lack of critical information regarding the film. I talked with one of my film professors who told me about some of his critic review experiences. My professor expressed his passion for reading established critic reviews because they analyze films in specific aspects that we, as viewers, do not ever think about. He has his favorite critics that he always falls back on; however, he has been branching out to other critics that he has more recently discovered. My film professor would not stop stressing the importance of established critics because he has had many bad experiences with new films based on random critic reviews. He told me about a few times in the past when students and other professors have asked his opinion of certain films. On multiple occasions he took his chances and told others what he read about the film, not having seen the film, which ended up not being helpful and horribly wrong. From my own experiences, I cannot stress in words how important it is to read multiple reviews for one specific film and to make sure that the majority of the reviews are held in high regard.

How the production value of a film only seems relevant to those in the film program and how the actors of a film do not seem relevant to anyone...

The appreciation or lack of appreciation for the production value of a film is an interesting and often critical factor in film viewing choices for some. In almost all cases so far, film students and professors have stressed the importance of the filmmakers and personnel that make the actual film. These students and professors are studying and teaching in the realm of film; therefore, those who work so hard to make a film possible are the very people that hold the positions these students are looking to someday be in themselves. The students and professors within the film program hold a higher view of those involved in the film because they understand the effort and countless sleepless nights and hours of work that go into each film. I am currently taking a class focused on cinematography and my professor explained that he only watches movies that are made by specific film companies. Usually he won’t watch a movie unless it has a filmmaker that he respects or already knows a lot about. During the summer months, my cinematography professor works on a feature length film, so he knows how much work it takes to make a successful film.

Non-film students and professors usually only look at the outcome of the film and usually don’t stress or even realize the importance of those individual talents working behind the scene. Very few non-film students and professors expressed their desire to watch a film based on who actually produced and made the film possible. Non-film students and professors tend to look at the talent in the shining light instead of those who are behind the scenes. Such people tend to look toward the actors and actresses starring in the film instead of the directors or writers; however, I was surprised that the importance of actors was not relevant to all of my interviewees. Before starting the interviewing process, I was sure that everyone would rely heavily on the actors in the film. I had the chance to interview a music major at Titania Midwestern who expressed that he will still see a film with an actor or actress that he may dislike if the genre of that particular film is a genre that he was comfortable with. It surprised me that he demonstrated a lack of importance of actors and actresses, even those that are disliked by the viewer, contrary to my original thoughts. Both film and non-film students and professors did not display a strong pattern of actor importance; nevertheless, those who did show a large reliance on the actors in a film generally fell into the non-film program category.

How Gender has affected my interviewing process...

Throughout all of my interviews, I have taken notice of the fact that there are very few females within the film program. After asking a few questions, I discovered that the few girls in the program are mainly minors of film, not majors. Most of the females in my film classes have many hurdles to jump in order to one day become successful in the film industry, considering there are very few famous females in high positions, such as directors. I conducted a very unique interview with a female film student who actually graduated, but came back to take a few classes to gain more knowledge. She explained to me that getting started in the film industry has been a hard obstacle to overcome because females are usually not looked upon as highly as men in positions of high authority. Her movie choices are heavily dependent on who directed the film, being especially interested in films that have female directors. After the interview I tried to think of famous female directors or cinematographers and I had a very hard time coming up with more than a few.

The male to female ratio of film students is very one-sided compared to the professors within the film program that I had the chance to speak with, which displayed a fairly equal male to female ratio. Almost every professor, at some point in their career, had worked in the film industry and now teach as professors. Although it is hard for females to be successful in the film industry, teaching seems to be welcomed and preferred by both males and females. I have noticed that not only is it easier for a female film major to work as a professor, but it is actually preferred, especially after working in the industry for a few years. Males, on the other hand, have a better chance of cracking into the film industry in a big way; however, male professors I have spoken to also enjoy working with students as much as, if not more than, working hands on in a film or in the heart of the industry. In fact, professors often view teaching as the heart of the industry, because it is in the universities that the greatest directors, cinematographers, and script writers are given their first chance to shine.

The Importance of Biases...

I still have a long ways to go in the interviewing process for my project on film viewing criteria; however, I have noticed a few interesting trends. I have made a point to interview my close friends that are students but also other classmates that I am not very close with. The reason I have chosen to do this is because of my biases. My roommate made a great point the other day by saying that I tend to influence those around me with my biases about film. He explained that my friends, himself included, tend to highly regard what I say about film as important because I have a lot of background in the subject matter. I did not really understand how this would be relevant at first; however, after interviewing some of my close friends, I have realized that many of them now share some of the same ideas about film as myself, most likely due to my biases. In order to properly complete this project I need to interview a wide range of students and professors in the field of film and those who are not. Although it is convenient and good to interview close friends, I need to branch out and be careful because I may have already biased their opinions. To help avoid biases, I have created a list of interview questions which mesh together a nice medium of questions I feel important and those that other viewers, unlike myself, might find helpful. Any biases I have are prior to starting this project.

I had the opportunity to interview a few film students this week, one of which I am not close with as a friend, merely just another classmate of mine. While interviewing her, I made sure that I did not ask any questions that were biased toward my opinions. Out of all the film students I have interviewed so far, this was the most interesting and different opinionated interview I have held. I noticed that her main area of focus when deciding to watch a film is safety. She loves watching the same movies over and over again because they are her favorites. She does not tend to branch out and watch new movies or even movies other classmates and professors suggest, which is very rare for a film student. She does not watch many movies at all and when she does decide to watch a new film, reviews are not relevant to her. Advertising does play a role in her decision making process, along with her peers suggestions. Every once in a while she will see a movie that is coming out that she is dying to see; however, for the most part she just likes watching her favorite films. She feels that in order to become a great filmmaker she needs to be creative and come up with her own spin on how to make a film. Watching a lot of movies would influence her opinion when actually making a film. All and all, the directors, producers, cinematographers, etc. do not influence her film viewing. Every so often, she will watch a film because of an actor starring in the film, but mostly any new movies she will watch are based on the genre of the film. She does not like watching movies in general, but when she does, branching out is not important to her.

Interviews will continue to surprise me...

As I stated in my last entry about film viewing, no one I have talked with so far has been interested or made a point to focus their viewing decisions based on the production company and personnel, who actually create the films that we like to watch. One interesting factor that I believe strongly affects my results so far is that I have not talked to a single film student or professor about their views. Instead, I have only focused my interviews on non-film students and professors. I plan to talk with some of my fellow film students and professors this upcoming week so it will be interesting to see how they differ when choosing their criteria for film viewing. I was able to talk with a couple of music students this week about the movies they like to watch. I figured that they would have a lot to offer on the subject because they are heavily involved in the arts, just like myself being a film major. I was surprisingly shocked that the students I talked to were not as interested in the same things as me or other film students. One of the music students told me how he watches movies for two reasons: number one, for entertainment purposes and number two, for educational purposes. He does not watch a lot of movies so when he does he likes to watch movies that will help him escape reality and relax. Usually he likes to watch movies that are lighthearted and funny because they are entertaining. He also likes to watch educational movies such as documentaries and films that focus on other cultures. He went to Sudan last year, so he chose to watch the film "Four Feathers" because it takes place in Sudan. Films that focus on other countries and cultures are interesting to him because they help him further develop his knowledge of the world.

As I continued talking with this music student he explained the importance of advertising, genres, and actors. Although he does not read reviews he will further research a film after seeing an advertisement that sparks his eye. He continues researching a film because he does not want to expect one thing and being handed a different thing. The main area he researches is the content of the film. He explained that he has high moral standards and the content of the film can affect if he will watch it or not. He then started talking about how the actors in a film are not important unless it is an actor that he really does not care for. Even then, he will still watch a movie with that disliked actor depending on the genre of the film. He thinks that the genre is most important, the actors come second. He likes certain actors in certain types of films. There is not specific actors that he likes or does not like, it all comes down to the genre. As we finished up our conversation he told that the only film that he never watches is horror films because they often interfere with his moral choices in life. He does not care for how they make him feel and does not find them entertaining.