The Relationship Between Audiences and Films: The Hunger Games

In this blog post I will be discussing the relationship between the film The Hunger Games and audience. I will be including how pre-post viewing experiences, fandom, social media networking, effects, conditions of reception, pleasure, active spectatorship and the media literacy relate to me and the audience of The Hunger Games.

Pre-Post Viewing Experiences

Before I watched The Hunger Games I didn't think I was going to enjoy the film because I have never seen a trailer and I didn't know much about the film, therefore I didn't have many expectations.When I saw the front cover of The Hunger Games, the poster didn't appeal to me because there didn't look like much was going on. After I had watched the film my opinion of The Hunger Games changed and I enjoyed the film and thought it was really good. By watching this film I now want to see the second film. I think my opinion changed on this film because I didn't know what it was about, I also didn't know what was going to happen next, I liked the storyline and all different actions was happening at the same time between all the different characters.

The audiences that have read the books would know what was going to happen in the films but still would go and see them because they enjoyed reading the books. This would give them higher expectations of the film because they knew what was going to happen next but would make them see the film visually. After they have seen the film they may be disappointed because they had higher expectations as they have read the book and they also knew all the plot twists. Other people may have found the film a lot better than the books as they saw what they have read visually.

Fandom & Social Media Networking

Fans of The Hunger Games will buy merchandise such as; t-shirts, sound tracks, screensavers, bags, props used in the film, posters, survival bags and pens. They buy the merchandise because they love the film and characters in the film. Also the fans may have gone out and brought the next book 'The Hunger Games Catching Fire'. They would have brought the next book because they want to know what is going to happen next as the film was left on an openin ending. Hunger Games fans wouldn't be able to wait to see the next film. Most fans may have already read the books so they may know what is going to happen next. Some fans may just want to read the books while they are waiting for the next film to be released. The Hunger Games fans or audiences may review the film to let others know their opinions on the film. To do this they may write a written review on their blogs, fanpages or on review websites and some audiences may ceate a vlog and talk about their opinions. Fans may also join or create fan blogs to give other fans information and spoilers about the next film. They create fan blogs so they can connect and speak to other fans in the same fandom as you. Here is one of the most popular fansite for The Hunger Games: http://www.hungergamestrilogy.net/

Fans in The Hunger Games fandom will use many different social media networks such as; twitter, facebook, tumblr and myspace. Fans in this fandom will follow other fans, the cast, production company and the offical Hunger Games accounts. They do this so they speak to other fans as they may have a lot of things in common, makes new friends with the same interests and know what the cast is up too and events they will be attending. They will also have these social media networks to see where the production is up to in the filming and behind the scene pictures from the offical pages for this film.

Effects

I think that all the effects used in this film looked realistic, the special effects used in this film were; explosions of fire moving towards the main character Katniss Everdeen to try and kill her, fire on Katniss and Peeta clothing as they arrive in the parade and hologram when the people working with the games were adding different props into the arena. By having realistic affects makes the film look a lot better and it will appeal to more audiences and the fans because they want to see betetr effects to make that film stand out. Also by using these effects I listed above they fit with the genre action adventure of this film which will make these genre fans want to watch these films.

By having realistic effects improves the audiences opinions of this film because if the effects looks good they will tell their friends and make better reviews of the films, so other people that reads the reviews before the film will want to see it. Also if the special effects look realistic the audience will want to watch the next film because they know they won't be disappointed as they know it will be look visually good. I think the special effects used in this film was very good because they looked realistic and made the film look more effective.

Active Spectatorship

The Hunger Games genre would be known as action and adventure because there are many sound effects, storyline and special effects used to make the film fit within this genre category. When the audience is going to watch this film they would expect the different codes and conventions used in action and adventure films. For example in The Hunger Games they used some of the main codes and conventions in action films such as; fire and explosions. They also used the main codes and conventions in adventure films which is the characters having to complete a quest/adventure to survive and going through may difficulties to complete the quest.

The Hunger Games storyline may relate to some of the audiences watching this film because they may have experienced having to complete something they don't want to do or relate to the characters emotions and bonds with other characters. For example; the love triangle between the three characters; Katniss, Peeta and Gale. This scenario may relate to some of the audiences because they know how them characters are feeling from previous experiences they have experienced.

You can't directly relate to the culture of this film because the film is based on the future as they have used technologies such as; hologram. This is because the culture in this age is completly different to the future culture in this film, although some of the audience may be able to relate to some of the characters experiencing the changing culture. For example Katniss and Peeta going from a poor distrinct but once they both win the Hunger Games they become famous to all the districts. They would be changing cultures becaus they have gone from a poor area to a more wealthy area. They would also be changing in the different cultures as they have gone into the games with no choice which is in a different atmosphere to where they live. The audience can relate to these characters because they might of had a difficult bringing up and becoming more successful as they grow up, as they may know how the characters are feeling as this happens to them.

Pleasure

There is one main pleasure the audience can get from watching this film which is emotional pleasure. This is because the two main characters Katniss and Peeta were told only one of them could survive as previously in the film they changed the rules that two competitors from the same district can both survive if they are the last two standing. But as soon as they are the last two standing they changed the rules that only one can survive. This would be emotional for the audience because they would of grown a bond and love with the characters throughout the film and they don't want them to die because they don't deserve too as they both have been through a lot throughout the games. This part of the film would effect the audience that haven't already read the books because they didn't expect this to happen. This part of the film may not of affected the audience that have read the books as much because they knew that this plot twist was going to happen. They still may be emotional as they haven't seen this happen visually and they may have also bonded with the characters more from watching the film.

Conditions of Reception

As I missed the first 5-10 minutes of The Hunger Games it changed the way I looked at this film because I didn't know what happened in the first 5-10 minutes. As I missed the beginning of this film, I may have looked at this film in a completely different way because I would of understood what was happening when district 12 was getting their bloods taken and they were all standing in the croud waiting for the leader to come on stage. Throughout this film I understood the storyline and what was happening after they had arrived at the games arena. For example; if some audiences was watching this film at home and they got a phone call they would miss what is happening unless they pause the film. They may have missed an important scene like I did to understand the storyline from the begining.

Media Literacy

As a television and film student I used my knowledge and anaylised the film in my head as I was watching The Hunger Games such as; I like this shot, why they may have used that shot, and how it relates to the genre. By doing this it may ruin the way I watch films because I know why they have used the different techniques. Other audiences that don't study teleivision and film, will see this film in a completely different perspective. This is because they are enjoying the content of this film instead of anaylsing it from a technicals perspective.