Chapter 7. Chapter 7

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

Media Literacy Practice Activity
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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

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

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

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:

Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study

Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage

Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings

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

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

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

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? Do you enjoy it? Do you wish you did it more or less? What do you dislike about watching movies at home?

Use the space below to answer the following question.

List ten findings from your survey on movie watching.
_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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

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.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. What patterns can you find when analyzing what respondents had to say about going out to the movies?

2. What patterns can you find when analyzing what respondents had to say about watching movies at home?
_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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

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

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. What is the nature of movie watching at home versus at a movie theater? How is the experience different? Why is it different?

2. What does it mean if respondents feel that one venue is better or worse for movie watching?

3. Do the patterns you found have repercussions for the movie industry? For movie makers in particular?

4. Do the patterns you found have repercussions for the owners of movie theaters?
_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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

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.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. Is it better to watch a movie in a theater versus at home? Why or why not?

2. Are movie theaters threatened by home viewing? In your opinion, in what ways is that good or bad?
_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

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

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.

Use the space below to answer the following question.

In your opinion, what can movie theaters do to entice more people to venture out to see movies?
_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.