I think I'm having a "viewer's block"
I often suffer from “viewer’s block”. I can’t get motivated to watch anything. It’s usually because of too many choices and not being able to decide. Lately I’m more interested in reading about film than watching films. I have an obsessive need to scour the internet for new essays and read them immediately when I find them.
What could be the possible cause and how to “cure” it?
Are you watching too much TV?
I don’t watch much TV at all, but I actually use it to help me choose. Whatever movie is on, I try to watch it. Particularly if it is something I’ve always wanted to see, or haven’t seen in years and need to re-assess. So I appreciate randomness. What I need is a “movie shuffle”, similar to an old CD shuffle, where I have no idea what film is about to come on but I can make an agreement with myself to watch it regardless.
It’s totally normal. I experience it on occasion when it seems like I’m just watching film after film after film. I usually just don’t watch movies then, maybe for a week or two. Then maybe start back by watching some short films.
It is not a bad thing to just walk away from movies for a bit.
“Lately I’m more interested in reading about film than watching films”
Same, but i’ve watched a lot of films in the last 2-3 weeks, moreso than i have in the last few months.
The ‘re-assessment’ thing is something i’d like to do more often, but time simply does not permit. There are just far too many films i still have to see, esp older films. I’m less obsessive about crossing films off my list than i was a few years ago though. For a while i just focussed entirely on the list and it became more like a chore.
@joks. : I was the same way with a list. Now, if I’m in the mood to watch a film or if I have the opportunity to see a rare or hard-to-find film, I’ll watch. Otherwise I do something else :)
It is not a bad thing to just walk away from movies for a bit.
^This.
For the last few years I’ve made it a point to try to see as many films as possible to ‘bring myself up to speed’ with the kind of person I enjoy talking with on mubi. From the start of 2010 to the end of 2011 I watched over 1000 films, and so basically achieved that aim. But it’s not been without its drawbacks, chief among them is this burnout to which the OP is referring. I’ve since dialled things way back to the point where right now I’m watching virtually nothing. I find these things go in cycles between my various interests. Right now I’m reading more, playing more chess, pc games what have you. My interest will return to films I’m sure but I’m much more relaxed about the whole thing now :)
I’ve been watching fewer films since my last Directors Cup burnout. Also I’ve been on a gaming jag where I’ve been catching up on all the stuff I missed the previous two years where I hardly played any video games.
@Bobby
I actually have a list of all the movies in my collection and a program that selects randomly from it.
Yesterday, Singin In The Rain. Tomorrow, Chimes At Midnight.
viewer’s block?
hahah. you need to get out more. you know… experience life.
Agreed. I really enjoy watching horror movies. But in recent months, i started to watch 2-3 films a day. Then i became overdosed. I still wonder the new movies, but can’t stand to watch even their trailers.
Well I’ve been talking about this on this board for a while, but the more involved I get in motion picture production, the less I seem to care about actually sitting down to watch the things.
However, I’ve sort of turned movie watching into something more of a social event/networking thing. I help out at film festivals as a volunteer and right now am a screener for a festival, which basically gives me access to a feature or two and from five to ten shorts a week. I went to see Elles yesterday almost purely to catch up with a friend (who owns the theatre it played at).
I actually need to see Breaking Bad because I know so many people who’ve worked on it that it’s actually very difficult to communicate with them since they’re all talking about things they all know about and I don’t…. I’ve never, ever been in that position before where a television show (or film) is required viewing simply for having a common dialog at work…
I’m thinking of volunteering more review time simply so that I get free access to other movies just simply sent to me. I’m finding from this whole screener thing that if you don’t choose your own media to watch, those little moments you sit down to watch something for yourself are immensely enjoyable. AND, occasionally you end up getting something you’d probably have never found yourself if you volunteer your time. I saw one feature film for the festival (which unfortunately I cannot name right now because festivals have a de facto privacy agreement with submitters which is important because some submitters are distributors trying to control how they go about releasing and informing the public and don’t want, say, negative reviews popping up on the Internet before the movie is even listed as existing anywhere else) which was sheer excellence and cannot wait to start talking about here once it gets accepted to the festival (which I think it will because all of the screeners have been talking about it, even if they don’t like it — it’s one of those movies that you may not like but is very, very good). So it’s fun to be part of the process of getting a movie out there that really deserves attention.
Ultimately though, confessionalist style response aside, the point is that if you want to return to the novelty effect of new films, the action of sitting down to watch a film needs to become novel, not standard, again. You need to talk a walk, write something, shoot some pool, read, other things that occupy your time and imagination so that your body can get used to not sitting on your ass looking at a screen all day. That’s bad for you.
—PolarisDiB
This happens to me often. I decided I needed to get more sleep and be more patient. I’d give a film 30 minutes of my undivided attention, and if it didn’t hook me (and only if it was a two hour or longer film) I’d turn it off and move onto the next one.
The films that have cured me of this “viewers block” most recently are Moonrise Kingdom, The Right Stuff, and Quills.
“I actually have a list of all the movies in my collection and a program that selects randomly from it.”
Love that. But I would want the program to actually random play the film. Otherwise I would maybe talk myself out of actually watching what it selects. I’d stick with the film more if I began to see the first images of it automatically.
“But I would want the program to actually random play the film.”
Dude, rip the discs to iTunes or Windows Media Player, set a movie ‘playlist’ and click shuffle.
—PolarisDiB
That’s won’t work for me. Anyway, I’d rather have some sort of Netflix on demand shuffle. To have access to films I don’t own.
The lack of ‘shuffle’ feature in Netflix has been a long-running complaint, indeed. Not to push the point too hard (if it won’t work for you it won’t work for you), but it’s a shame a DIY solution isn’t to your taste. If I had the harddrive space, I’d take my own recommendation.
—DiB
“Are you watching too much TV?”
well, no. I never watch TV, in fact. but in my free times I find myself more interested in reading articles from the net, watching some youtube clips, playing video games. It’s like I’m having severe ADD.
Yeah, this happens to me too, even though I don’t think I watch as many movies as most of you guys do (I usually only watch 2-3 a week). But to solve it:
It is not a bad thing to just walk away from movies for a bit.
Also, why hasn’t Jazzaloha commented on this thread yet? He’s been having this problem for a while now.
This also happens to me….I’m kind of going through it right now…..when I do decide to watch a film I can’t make up my mind which film to watch and end up not watching anything. I end up reading a book or surfing the net.
Yeah, happens to everyone once in a while. Take a break from watching.
helps
Aditya said, These past few months I’ve been unable to watch a film more than 20 minutes without feeling bored or losing interest. This results in finishing movies just for the sake of it and leaving some unfinished.
When you said this, I thought about watching films via netflix streaming. I think the convenience, plus the number of options leads to this type of “viewer’s block”—although I don’t know if I would refer to it as a “block” so much as impatience. If the film doesn’t engage me within a relatively short period of time, I feel the urge to just watch or do something else. (This might be a different problem from the one you’re talking about.)
@DFFOO
Also, why hasn’t Jazzaloha commented on this thread yet? He’s been having this problem for a while now.
Just checked in. I don’t know if the OP is articulating the same problem, although it might be. It’s not that I feel bored within the first twenty minutes of a film (although that happens), but I often feel dissatisfied or “empty” after watching the film.
Because your experience of the film didn’t match the expectation of the film?
Because your experience of the film didn’t match the expectation of the film?
Not necessarily. I think it’s just that I’ve seen lot of really terrific films in the past five years or so, and when I see a film now (especially a newer one), I feel a little letdown. It’s like going on a tour for great bbq and then coming back home and no longer being satisfied with the local bbq.
Ah. So more of a diminishing returns thing. That’s a tougher one. It might be a matter of continually finding ways to achieve a progressively finer and finer grained appreciation of what you’re watching.
Ah. So more of a diminishing returns thing.
I think so. (It kinda sucks.)
It might be a matter of continually finding ways to achieve a progressively finer and finer grained appreciation of what you’re watching.
What do you have in mind? (I hope this doesn’t mean that I have to start ignoring the totality of the film and find specific details that I can savor. I don’t mind doing this for some films, but if my enjoyment came striclty came down to this, that would bum me out.)
“I hope this doesn’t mean that I have to start ignoring the totality of the film and find specific details that I can savor”
Well, no not exactly. Remember that a totality is the product of the film + you, so I’m thinking of more of a mind expansion sort of thing (and not the sort that Mogambo has in mind, btw :) ).
_ so I’m thinking of more of a mind expansion sort of thing_
OK, I’m game. What are you thinking?
(and not the sort that Mogambo has in mind, btw :) )
Heh.
I don’t know exactly. I’m hoping someone else is going to jump in with some good ideas.
Aditya I.P.
These past few months I’ve been unable to watch a film more than 20 minutes without feeling bored or losing interest. This results in finishing movies just for the sake of it and leaving some unfinished. This happens with all kinds of films, from The Avengers to some arthouse stuff. Does/did this happen to you? What could be the possible cause and how to “cure” it?