Steven:
So they look fantastic on the large screen but at home they just look good. So in a way, it’s good enough. I enjoy my movies but I don’t need it to sound amazing.
Ben Slater, NTU School of Art, Design and Media:
But there is a key factor in the moviegoing experience that you’re missing out on, which is the communal experience.
Steven:
Okay you have to tell me (about) that, because it is because of the communal experience that I (choose to) stay home.
Ben:
Well, that may be telling us a lot about your personality.
Crispina Robert, host:
He has a problem with the dirty seats (in cinemas).
Steven:
I’m an extrovert. I love socialising, but thousands of people have sat in the seat. I go there and one of the guys next to me is talking all the time throughout the movie: “Oh did you see what happened there? What happened in that part?”
Ben:
There is something really wonderful about everybody being together and sharing a film. And that could be something incredibly emotional. That could be something really scary. It could be something terrifically insane.
Steven:
So you mean when you laugh and everyone laughs at the same time?
Ben:
Exactly. Or even just that feeling when everyone goes completely quiet because something really incredible happens on screen. We’re talking about the Oscars and at the end of Anora, which is the film that won the Best Picture, that has an incredible quiet ending which is absolutely devastating.
