A Record of My Relationship with Film is a blog where I review every movie that I watch. People often use an individual's cinematic tastes to assume an impression of that person which results in films being loosely associated to specific groups of people; an example would be that fans of Marvel films are mostly single white males with an addiction to memorabilia. Rather than project a perceived contrived image of myself via specific films (and responses to those films) I wanted to expand my tastes to new options of genre, filmmakers and stars. This was not just in order to respond to each film as an open individual, but as an open and informed individual.
Within my blog I wanted to challenge myself as a spectator to trust myself whilst being aware of the audience of each film, in terms of target audience and actual bums on seats. This meant not allowing myself to write off films that are assumed to be rubbish and, in some cases, lead to me being pleasantly surprised.
In An Introduction to Film Studies, Jill Nelmes asks if we should talk of the spectator or the audience when discussing a response to a film. She suggests that "...an audience is likely to be better understood if we respect and try to understand the importance of particular life experiences and social attitudes that they bring..." (2003, pg. 95). By applying this inclusive and knowing method to my review blog I aim to not just talk of my opinion about any film but discuss response studies where applicable.
It's obvious we all relate to films differently as individuals, which allows various readings within context and opens up interesting dialogues. My second film blog takes this discourse and applies it to the way in which films are conventionally reviewed. The concept of 100 Films, 100 Thoughts is that after watching a film my review is unedited and posted as typed. In applying this method my aim is to express a visceral reaction to the media placing less importance on the theoretical influences. The selected movies reviewed are taken from the 100 greatest films as decided by IMDB in descending order. I enjoy reviewing films with this method as it helps cement and inform my own tastes as a filmmaker.
In reviewing films as a hobby, regardless of if I liked/disliked the film, I am still able to take these factors and apply/avoid them when creating media for myself and others. In this sense I'd like to say their are no bad films, but that would be a lie.
Key Skills
- Expanding my knowledge of film generally.
- Re-enforcing the discourses that allow audience to influence filmmaking.
- To embrace cinema as a whole entity and not just the films that conform to my tastes.
- Applying theorists to populist cinema in order to have a deeper understanding of films.
