Media Literacy Activity: Movie Watching at Cinemas or as Home Entertainment?

Introduction

Activity Objective

In this activity, you will apply the critical process to compare and contrast the experience of watching movies at home versus at movie theaters.

Pre-Activity Instructions:

Identify ten friends or classmates and at least five people over the age of fifty that you want to interview about their experiences watching movies.

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Reviewing the Critical Process

Developing a media-literate critical perspective involves mastering five overlapping stages that build on one another. Let’s review the critical process you’ll be using below:

  1. 1. Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study
  2. 2. Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage
  3. 3. Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings
  4. 4. Evaluation: arriving at a judgment about whether something is good, bad, or mediocre, which involves subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages
  5. 5. Engagement: taking some action that connects our critical perspective with our role as citizens to question our media institutions, adding our own voice to the process of shaping the cultural environment

Description

Survey ten of your friends and/or classmates and at least five people over the age of fifty. Ask them the following questions:

  1. How often do you go out to a movie theater?
  2. How do you describe the experience of going out to the movies? Why do you choose to go out to the movies? Do you enjoy it? Do you wish you did it more or less? What do you dislike about going out to the movies?
  3. How often do you watch a movie at home? When you watch at home, how do you access the movie? For example, network TV, cable TV, DVR, cable on-demand services, DVD, streaming services (Netflix, Amazon), YouTube, or other Web site?
  4. How do you describe the experience of watching movies at home? What are the main reasons you choose to watch movies at home? Do you enjoy it? Do you wish you did it more or less? What do you dislike about watching movies at home?

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Analysis

With the interview responses in mind, let’s explore what patterns emerge regarding the experience of movie watching at a movie theater versus at home.

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Interpretation

Through the following questions, interpret the experience of movie watching at cinemas and as home entertainment.

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Evaluation

Next, we’ll examine what your views are as you assess the benefits and disadvantages of movie watching at home versus at a movie theater.

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Engagement

Let’s take action! Go out to a movie theater with a friend to see a film. Note all the aspects of going to the movies (e.g. transportation, ticket line, concession stand, seating, activities people engage in during the film, etc.). Ask people who work at the theater about why their customers like seeing films at a movie theater. What do they do to try to entice more people to venture out to see movies? Use your new understanding of movie viewing to make suggestions to a local movie theater owner.

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