Some of us are always in that state

[threemonkeys]

I watched an episode of Dead Set last night. Its a E4 (i.e. British) show about a zombie outbreak and how the inhabitants of a Big Brother house cope. The E4 introduction was included on the file and as well as the warning for "extreme" bad language was the instructions that the show was best watched in wide screen, surround sound and with the lights out.

I was pretty meh about the show* but the instruction to watch with the lights out struck a chord. I've always thought that if you want to best engage with a TV show then cutting down the ambient light levels is a good idea because it improves focus on the show. That is to say, it removes other visual distractions. Relate it to the cinema experience where lights are turned off - it isn't just to improve screen contrast levels.

I'm surprised how often there is resistance to the notion of turning the lights off or at least down when watching TV. Any time when we used to have group sessions to watch new shows, I couldn't get people to agree to have the lights down. Just what were they worried about. Sure, in a normal domestic situation if you plan to multi-task or there is somebody else in the room doing something else then you need to keep the lights up. But if you really want to get the best out of a show either on your own or in a group then you should cut out other influences. Of course, most shows aren't worth the effort, but that is a different matter.


*I'm pretty "meh" about zombies generally. Give me big alien monsters any day or better still, just suggest the horror.

Comments

[battblush.livejournal.com]

We are a lights out family. It improves the whole viewing vibe.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks like this.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

I don't always do it (too often I'm working on something, usually RPG-related, while watching TV), but I do make the effort for some movies. The second time I saw 'Halloween' (the original), I was at home with the lights out, curtains drawn, and the only other light source was a candle shaped like a jack-o-lantern. Really added to the effect.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Now that shows proper dedication to the cause.

[darthsappho.livejournal.com]

My parents seemed to think it was bad for your eyes to watch TV with the lights out...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Really?! I suppose that might work if TVs were a source of UV radiation - the iris of your eye would be open wider to let more in. There were all sorts of stories about radiation from the TV in the early days of TV here.

[clockworkflight.livejournal.com]

I'm a multi-tasker by nature - doing something else /helps/ cut out other influences, provided it's sufficiently mindless. If I don't do something else then my mind wanders and I totally miss what's happening.

With my parents it was sitting too close to the tv that was going to destroy my eyesight. That and all the reading I was doing in the dark was going to make me blind before I was twenty (I'm actually the long-sighted one in a family of short-sighted people). I do remember hearing that the glow around the TV screen once it was switched off was evidence of deadly radiation - and that was far from the early days of TV. (This is starting to lead into my rant about people complaining that energy efficient light bulbs give out radiation - I'd be asking for a refund if they didn't.)

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Strangely enough, I'm the only short sighted one in a family of long sighted folk although I've never blamed it on too much reading or too much TV. The concept of "too much" in those contexts just does not work.

I'm with you on radiation - I have the same reaction to people who complain about "chemicals" in their food.

[russellk.livejournal.com]

One of the advantages of TV through a projector and screen is that you *need* the lights out to watch it. A hundred-inch screen. Woo-hoo!

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo indeed. Its a wonder you find any time to write.