American Cinematographer - December 1984 - 9

^ITZA
VIDEO

65 YEARS

PHOTO

RATED 10

There

is

tendency in Hollywood productions to assume that the
going to lose interest in a movie if it does not goose them
periodically. This may be expressed cynically in a mixing session by
telling a mixer to play the sound of a passing truck good and loud in
order to wake the audience up or it may tacitly inform a decision to do a
gratuitous crane move or use a novel camera angle. The most extreme
example of this tendency is found, of course, in television production
where the fear that the viewer will change the channel often overrides all
other considerations in everything from scripting to acting to scoring. At
the Preview House in Hollywood movies and television programs are
tested by literally wiring viewers and measuring physiological changes
which are taken to be indicative of agitation or excitement. The assump¬
tion is apparently that anything which gets a rise out of viewers is good
and keeps them involved in the movie.
With the proliferation of cable channels and the increased
variety of viewing choices the fear that viewers may lose interest has
probably increased exponentially. At least in a movie theater it is not
necessary to compete with curiosity about the outrageous images that
may be available on MTV. The audience in a theater has made a substan¬
tial commitment to viewing the film and presumably will walk out only if
really put off by an extended portion of the movie.
Still there seems to be an assumption that the movie must
always work to keep the audience interested. While this is admirable in
some regards, it may be based on a lack of faith both in the material for
the movie and in the audience. Effects which are added purely to shock
or stimulate an audience may have nothing to do with the story or theme
of the movie and can easily distract or irritate the audience. At the very
least they represent a choice in favor of superficial, sensory involvement
a

audience is

the expense of deeper emotional or intellectual involvement.
This is not to say that lighting effects, camera angles or
crane shots which are unconventional should always be avoided. The

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1.

point is that choices should be rooted in considerations about the
themes and mood implicit in the material rather than a general anxiety
about holding on to the audience. If the visual style is an expression of
the same vision that shaped the story of a film and the story has some
relevance to the audience, there is no need to be afraid.

3.

-Richard Patterson

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December 1984

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7
American Cinematographer - December 1984

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 1984
