How you experience movies

[Brian0787]

I thought this might be an interesting topic and how it relates to autism. Does anyone notice how you experience movies when you watch them? For me I see movies as a whole experience in terms of cinematography and sound as well as the characters and story. How a movie is shot and the lighting that's used as well as the sound tells as much as a story as the characters itself, I feel. I love nighttime visuals in a movie.

I recently seen the movie "Margin Call" which was made in 2011 about the 2008 financial crisis and loved the use of lighting and reflection. "Collateral" made in 2004 is another terrific example of the use of lighting and cinematography that really stands out. Movies to me feels like it can be a whole sensory experience.

 

[Shevek]

It sounds as if you think like a movie maker, but can still be immersed without analyzing the techniques. That's rare. For me, a movie can easily be overwhelming with all the constant input, and I often miss significant, but brief activities.

 

[UFO]

I would say that a movie evening with a popcorn and cola is one of my few routines that I won't miss lightly. As Shevek pointed out, they might be overwhelming and exhausting to watch. I often turn quiet and withdrawn after a movie (or I get so excited by a really good movie, that I can't stop talking about it). But that is in a good way. Overall, movies are to me relaxation, forgetting stress, problems, unwanted emotions, ruminating thoughts etc. A movie is not necessarily an experience of its own, but I wouldn't have developed my daily movie evening habit if I wouldn't love movies.

I don't usually put much attention on artistic values. But when there are some, I do admire, for example, good use of a Dutch angle (a sidenote: The Batman tv-series of 60s uses that effect perfectly to express how nuts the characters are, or at least it uses the effect much better than most movies), or light and shadow (Citizen Kane casts shadows on people's faces to foreshadow future events...). But I can have fun with the most moronic movie script if otherwise the movie is something spectacular (Bad Boys...) or spectacularly dumb (Sharknado).

 

[Lou Laurinen]

For me I see movies as a whole experience in terms of cinematography and sound as well as the characters and story. How a movie is shot and the lighting that's used as well as the sound tells as much as a story as the characters itself, I feel. I love nighttime visuals in a movie.

Completely agree with this. TV series as well. I'm picky with visual media, and if a movie or a show has decent writing but lackluster cinematography, it loses its appeal for me. As someone with a lot of passion for video editing and filmmaking myself (just less focused on it than I used to be), I really appreciate good cinematography, lighting, use of angles and lenses, soundtrack and score, etc.
I'm also a writer who really values characters and use of dialogue, and exceptional character writing and character development will sell me on a movie or a show too.
Great post!