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.