Some of us are always in that state
Oct. 30th, 2008 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysI 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.
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.