1. A2 FILM STUDIES

2. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Identify KeyTerms:
Reception Theory
Analyse the factors that influence how we
choose a film to view
Analyse how filmmakers create response and
communicate with their audience
Evaluate the use of Central & A-Central
Imagining in Full Metal Jacket

3. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Reception theory hoped to be a more sophisticated approach to
studying audiences concentrating more on those who consume
a text than the text itself.
When the text is
encoded certain
ideologies are in
dominance. The audience decodes
the message in multiple
ways and this is
dependant on the
cultural background of
the person.

4. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Reception Theory states that an audience may respond in one of three
ways based on their reading of a film and how they ‘decode’ the
meanings / ideologies placed in to the text by the filmmaker
Preferred Reading – taking an intended reading of the film
identifying and agreeing with all messages encoded in to
the text
Oppositional Reading – the viewer does not identify
the meanings encoded in to the text and their own
personal ideologies / experiences form an alternate
meaning within the text
Negotiated Reading – the viewer identifies most of the
meanings encoded in to the text but does not agree with, or
take the full meaning

5. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Reception Theory dictates that a film does not have
any meaning without the spectator
Meaning is only generated when the spectator views
the text and ‘decodes’ it
Meaning deals with themes and specific scenarios
Response is an all-encompassing interaction with the
film as a whole
What is the difference between ‘Meaning’
and ‘Response’?
Platoon’s meaning is
clear – War is bad and
we must learn from it
or face the same
consequences
Response to Platoon
would be varied and
dependent on many
factors, including life
experiences, age,
social/political factor
etc…

6. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
The question ‘How do individuals make sense of feature
film?’ has been asked many times over the years and has
elicited many different answers
There are many different approaches to film criticism but most
agree on this:
Film spectatorship – or at least the most interesting aspects of
it – is a conscious activity
Joseph Anderson claims:
Joseph
Anderson
Author of:
‘An
Ecological
approach to
Cognitive
FilmTheory’
“Making sense of film is significantly the same as making sense
of the real world”
He went on to say that the “spectator uses the same conceptual
and perceptual systems when interacting with a real life 3D
object, to make sense of 2D cinematic objects “

7. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Spectatorship theorists see desire as central to our
understanding of spectatorship
This desire not only relates to our response to a film
but also to the types of film we choose to watch
If we are presented with a choice of:
1. an intellectually demanding film
2. one which is provocative
3. one which is throw away spectacular fun
we will decide which best matches your desire at that
given point

8. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
If we choose the ‘spectacular fun’ (aka James
Bond) option we will most likely take a preferred
reading as the experience demands a suspension
of disbelief and an acceptance if it is to be
spectacular and fun
Even though, in another state of mind we would
find the sexism, militarism, and violence as
something we would not endorse at other times.
In other words we are freely choosing to become
aligned with the characters and scenarios
The Bond movies
require a suspension of
disbelief and acceptance
of its encoded meanings
if we are to enjoy them

9. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
“In other words we are freely choosing to become
aligned with the characters and scenarios”
The Bond movies
require a suspension of
disbelief and acceptance
of its encoded meanings
if we are to enjoy them
What impact can this have on the emotional
response to take from a film?
Can you say we are restraining our critical
faculties in favour of a desired response?
If yes, then can we say that our emotional
response can be determined by our desires?
Can you think of a film that you over-hyped,
thought you liked it but later admitted it was
rubbish?

10. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Interaction between director and spectator
can be achieved through the manipulation
of the following information:
Textual – information provided by the text
itself
Extra-textual – information existing in the
mind of the spectator

11. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
From our study so far we have identified FOUR factors
that can influence our response to a film:
Personal Experience – life experiences and personal
ideologies
Desires – what we desire/want at the moment we chose
a film to watch
Textual – information provided by the text itself
Extra-textual – information existing in the mind of the
spectator
Can you think of four films were your response has
been dependant on each of these factors?

12. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Most films are constructed in a way that enable us to
suspend our disbelief and emerge ourselves within the
narrative
Through the use of slick cinematography and invisible
editing we cease thinking of the film as a ‘film’
Instead we buy in to the ‘reality’ of the film
However other films draw attention to the film as a
‘textual construct’ –
Wayne’sWorld (1992)
frequently reminds
the audience that
they are watching a
constructed reality –
a textual construct
Directors can invite the spectator to take pleasure in
acknowledging that the film is in fact, a film – a construct
– and meaning is created between the filmmaker and the
spectator, not through the film itself

13. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Arguably the central function of spectatorship is:
Central Imagining
This refers to an immersion in the film
There are certain times when a spectator experiences
‘central-imagining’ – when a film recreates physical
sensations such as falling over or walking in a daze
In theory Central-Imagining is the merging of the spectator
with the film – when the cinematic experience is felt
physically
Central Imagining is often expressed as ‘I feel...’
Imax and other technologies provide more opportunity for
‘central-imagining’
This effect was fir
felt in the Lumiere
Brothers’ film:
“Entrée d'un train
en gare de la
Ciotat“ (1897)

14. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
The following clips encourage spectators to experience
‘Central Imagining’ – a response that can be felt physically
Watch them and make notes on HOW these response are
generated
This effect was first
felt in the Lumiere
Brothers’ film:
“Entrée d'un train
en gare de la
Ciotat“ (1897)
Central Imagining means we link personal experiences to the
scenes in the film.We understand emotion in film the same
way we do in real life.
However, film also has music, cinematograph, mise-en-
scene, editing etc to enhance and guide our emotional
responses

15. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
‘Alien’ extract – can generate a physical scare in audiences.
The film restricts information through lighting and the tight
space connotes entrapment and claustrophobia
The quick sharp reveal of the Alien, its hideous design and
the sound effects/music are designed to shock audience –
and it usually works.
Alien is connecting the film with REALITY – fear of the dark
and fear of the unknown are universal fears and the film taps
in to these fears to generate a response
Would you define this extract from ‘Alien’ as ‘A CENTRAL’ or
‘CENTRAL’?
Support your point with analysis!
“Making sense of film is significantly the same as making sense of the real
world”
He went on to say that the “spectator uses the same conceptual and perceptual
systems when interacting with a real life 3D object, to make sense of 2D
cinematic objects “

16. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Most of the time film spectators operate in the ‘I
imagine that...’ mode – meaning they do not feel the
physical effects but can imagine how a certain
sensation may feel
‘A Central’ imaging mostly relies on our ‘EXTRA
TEXTUAL’ information to generate a response
A-Central imagining is often expressed as “I imagine
that...”
“I imagine that being in a fire-fight must be terrifying
and a self preservation survival instinct would cut in”

17. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
The following clips encourage spectators to experience
‘A-Central Imagining’ – a response that cannot be felt
physically – rather it is a psychological response
Watch them and make notes on HOW these response are
generated
Now write at least one paragraph analysing HOW an A
CENTRAL response was generated by the film

18. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Another way of defining our responses can be to use the
phrases
EMPATHY SYMPATHY
Understanding
what others are
feeling because
you have
experienced it
yourself or can put
yourself in their
shoes.
Recognising what
others are feeling
and the feeing of
pity or sorrow FOR
someone else’s
misfortune
We can either FEEL FOR Pyle
(sympathy) or KNOW what he
is feeling (empathy).
Our response it either ‘A
CENTRAL’ (Sympathetic) or
’Central’ (empathetic)

19. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!

20. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Another way of defining our responses can be to use the
phrases
EMPATHY
Understanding
what others are
feeling because
you have
experienced it
yourself or can put
yourself in their
shoes.
Drive a connection between the
person and the object/person
being empathised with.
This connection has massive
ramifications for the types of
response we experience from
film

21. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Allegiance pertains to the moral evaluation of the
characters by the spectator
Allegiance is another form of ‘identification’ with a
character based on a wide range of external factors
such as attitudes towards:
•Class
•Race
•Nation
•Age
•Ethnicity
•Gender etc
Some people may
identify or experience
‘allegiance’ to Pvt. Pyle
having experienced
bullying / intense
hostility themselves

22. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Using your handout from our ‘Alignment’ lesson, go
through the scenes you have identified and note
down whether you consider them to be ‘Cental-
Imagining’ or ‘A-Central-imagining’
Watch the following extracts from ‘Full Metal
Jacket’ and answer the following questions:
How does each scene align us with the characters?
Are these scenes examples of ‘Central Imagining’ or
‘A-Central Imagining’?
(use ‘I feel’ & I imagine that...’)
Justify your answers!

23. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Essentially when we view films we have a
combination of responses ranging from preferred
to oppositional to individual emotional responses
We as spectators can have our physical responses
manipulated via Central imagining and our
emotional responses manipulated by A-Central
imagining
The A-Central Imagining depends on our extra-
textual reading of a film whilst the central
imagining depends on how the director uses the
camera to elicit physical responses (shock, tears...)

24. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Our emotional response to a film is determined by
how we are made to connect with characters.
How far has this been true for Full Metal Jacket?

25. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
We begin with an overall assessment of coherence
– expectations are formed in our minds -
As a film spectator we begin a film with specific
goals formed by a given background of knowledge
and experience
We look for familiar narrative, genre conventions,
and common cinematic techniques
We do this by bringing our knowledge of previous
films and cinematic experiences to bear in
responding to a new film experience

26. You will learn by the numbers I will teach you!
Cognitive
Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of
beauty
Aesthetic
Coherence
logical interconnection; overall sense or
Understand-ability.
pertaining to the mental processes of perception,
memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted
with emotional processes
Disparity
lack of similarity or equality; inequality; difference