Is a professional still able to enjoy movies as an audience?

Once you become a professional, paying attention to details ( objectively) becomes part of your responsibility. A responsibility that helps you hone your craft.

Since I've decided to become a "maker" of films rather than staying only as an audience ( Consumer), I've found my self nit picking certain things in movies ( Framing, lighting, sound, dialogue, story, character arc,.... ) that I hadn't before. This objective approach to watching movies is negating the quality of the joyful experience of watching movies for me.

I was wondering if this is the price of becoming a "producer" rather than a "consumer"; a matter which all professionals have to deal with? or is it only me who's thinking like this? If it's only me who's thinking like this, what's the solution? How can I hold on to my tastes as an audience and at the same time be able to create? Is there a particular approach out there in which I can become a creator without loosing the thrill and joyful experience of watching movies from an audience perspective? I love creating and I love watching movies as an AUDIENCE. Can these two coexist together?
 
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Perhaps the opposite. Maybe you will enjoy movies even more when you become a professional because you can see all of the elements (that you understand and master) coming together to form this new single thing.
 
The whole secret to being a successful professional in the entertainment industry is the ability to switch between objectivity (professional attention to detail) and subjectivity (being a member of the target audience).

It took me quite a long time to be able to turn off my professional perspective and become just another guy. It took even longer do it from minute to minute. "Wow, that's really cool." "Yeah, but it does nothing for the project."

Now I can watch a film and enjoy as a consumer unless a glaring error (or Wilhelm Scream) pulls me out of it.


It's a skill that you need to develop; it'll take time, but it is actually essential to success in the entertainment industry.
 
I agree with Feutus Lapdance. I find watching films more enjoyable when i appreciate all of the elements that come together to make the final film.

Although i do think there is a time and place to take a film and deconstruct it. But, personally I don't try and focus on individual elements while I'm watching a movie (other than possibly the score, just because I'm a music guy). But if something really sticks out as amazing I might try and figure out what's so appealing to me about the element (lighting, sfx, edit, etc) in the film.

In addition to all of this, I think it's a very good skill to have to be able to stand back and absorb the whole. I know when I'm writing a piece of music, I might get lost in a certain sound and not realize it's not working in the song as a whole. So enjoying a whole film/creation rather than only seeing the elements, sometimes does take a bit of effort.
 
Some films and television have become more predictable as I've gained experience writing.
 
Some films and television have become more predictable as I've gained experience writing.

Most shows and movies these days are predictable in my experience. But for me personally, watching lots of movies has made me find them predictable.
 
The whole secret to being a successful professional in the entertainment industry is the ability to switch between objectivity (professional attention to detail) and subjectivity (being a member of the target audience).

It took me quite a long time to be able to turn off my professional perspective and become just another guy. It took even longer do it from minute to minute. "Wow, that's really cool." "Yeah, but it does nothing for the project."

Now I can watch a film and enjoy as a consumer unless a glaring error (or Wilhelm Scream) pulls me out of it.


It's a skill that you need to develop; it'll take time, but it is actually essential to success in the entertainment industry.

well this warms the heart :) . Could you elaborate more about this skill? Is it something you unconsciously learn by years of experience, or is there a more specific technique to it?
 
Could you elaborate more about this skill? Is it something you unconsciously learn by years of experience, or is there a more specific technique to it?

I have no idea how I did it. I suppose that it mostly came from working with very talented people who were willing to share their experience and insights coupled with my own growing experience and my willingness to learn.


It is probably easier for me since I mostly build on the works of others. I never wrote the songs, I produced them to show the songs and the artists in their best light. I don't write the script or direct anything, I enhance the visuals with a believable, relatable soundscape.
 
When I go see a movie I am not going to watch it to analyse it.
I want to be submerged.

If I want to analyse it, I will watch it again with that goal.

Like Sean and Mara say:
you will see things coming sooner, because you understand forshadowing and subtext better.

That is why I no longer read reviews of movies I'm really curious about. They spill too much tea.
I want to be surprised.
 
When I go see a movie I am not going to watch it to analyse it.
I want to be submerged.

If I want to analyse it, I will watch it again with that goal.

Like Sean and Mara say:
you will see things coming sooner, because you understand forshadowing and subtext better.

That is why I no longer read reviews of movies I'm really curious about. They spill too much tea.
I want to be surprised.

yes I agree. I don't like to analytically watch movies neither. But I think once you become a professional you'll obtain an eye for details ( the nature of the job requires that of you ). So maybe it becomes second nature once you become a creator yourself ( specially a filmmaker)?. Alcove Audio says there is a switch that you can consciously turn on/off while watching a movie. I really like this approach, however I don't know how to develop this skill.
 
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Like Bob, I’ve learned to flip the switch between content creator and consumer. I’m only snapped out of the film when there’s something glaringly bad.

I do switch back into my production mind during the credits, just taking in how many (or how few) it took to make that film happen.

However, because I do pay attention to everything I see and hear, I can be taken out of the experience very quickly by a**holes who talk, text, let their phones ring out loud, answer calls, etc. during theatrical screenings. I think that has developed more since I started working in production. I also think that people have gotten more and more disrespectful in theaters over the last 25-30 years.
 
I wish it was a button I could turn on and of all the time. Last night I started watching Hereditary with the mindset that I can analyse it instead of emerge this movie. I can't do it.... It's one of the most disturbing horrors I have ever seen. Don't watch this one at nicht....
 
After some script writing, you start to realize various things. For instance, if you have a tv series supporting character and suddenly at the start of the episode the main character spends time with him/her, especially if it is somewhat emotional scene, then later on the episode there is a risk that something bad happens to this character.

Also I have started to notice much more about framing and editing techniques than before.
 
one of the things ive noticed about movies is that it's so much more convenient to have the enemy disguised/begin as a friend.

It reduces the number of characters that the audience needs to learn about, simplifies the story telling and it also provides more varied scenarios for the protag and antag characters to interact with each other. This principle was able to make the plot of a recent big movie much more predictable.. I cant say the name without being a spoiler.

The incredibles 2

Such a shame because the first movie was great!
 
one of the things ive noticed about movies is that it's so much more convenient to have the enemy disguised/begin as a friend.

It reduces the number of characters that the audience needs to learn about, simplifies the story telling and it also provides more varied scenarios for the protag and antag characters to interact with each other. This principle was able to make the plot of a recent big movie much more predictable.. I cant say the name without being a spoiler.

The incredibles 2

Such a shame because the first movie was great!

I spotted the main antagonist directly as well.... so predictable.
 
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