Some speculations
I am always intrigued about why my film students occasionally applaud a film,
and it seems to be mostly when they've been surprised, shocked or moved by a
film. Sometimes they are surprised to have been entertained by a film in a film
course, which they presume will be boring. They applauded after _Speed_ because
of the sheer silliness of the ending! Student applause also seems to be linked
to how verbal they are during the screening and therefore may have something to
do with belongning to a group. Applause also seems to be more likely later in
the semester, possibly because they are more bonded as a group.
Perhaps this is similar with festival and cinematheque audiences, as they feel
they belong to a group of cinephiles, or at least like-minded people.
By the way audiences in commercial cinemas in Australia rarely applaud. It
annoys me that they now put the house lights up as soon as the credits start to
roll, leaving no time in the dark to ponder...and perhaps applaud.
I wonder whether it would be possible to instigate this by getting a few people
scattered through the cinema to start it off.
Cheers,
Michelle
Dr Michelle Langford
Associate Lecturer
School of Media, Film and Theatre
University of New South Wales, Sydney
PH: 9385 4489
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