Ryan McNeil
This past Saturday night, a question was asked on Twitter that got me and my moviegoing habits drawn in to a conversation:
Movie bloggers and writers- how many of you take notes in the theater?
— Nick Powell (@CineKatz) January 11, 2014
I haven’t a clue why Nick was asking. He may have been trying his hand at it…might have noticed someone else doing it…or might have just been watching HIGH FIDELITY. Once Anna pointed out to him that I take notes in a theatre, Nick had questions. It was a brief Twitter discussion, but I thought I’d expand upon it here for anyone who might be interested.
For starters, as a general rule, I don’t bother taking notes at a movie. Since I only write at-length about one film a week, it’s easy enough to keep details clear in my brain for the two or three days that might pass between showtime and writing. However, If this ever turned into a paying gig and I had to watch four or five screenings a week for the purpose of review, I’d wager that I’d be taking notes more often!
Right now though, note-taking usually only comes up when I’m at a film festival – and that’s only because seeing so many films in such a short amount of sleep-deprived time makes things blur together. Here’s a page of my notebook from my screening of 12 YEARS A SLAVE.
That page came in pretty handy when I wrote my full-length review nearly one month after the screening!
Nick asked if I found note-taking to be a distraction. Fair question, since there are films where you can miss crucial pieces of information by looking down at the wrong moment. To that end, I can only say that I’ve found a balance. You know how after a while, you can watch foreign films and figure out how to read the subtitles and watch the action all at once? It’s a little like that. Speaking of which, I will admit that subtitled films remain the hardest subject to take notes on. If the film is in a language you understand, you can at least listen while you write. If they’re speaking something else – good luck!
Nick went on to wonder if my notes took me out of the action and prevented me from allowing myself to fully drown in a movie. The funny thing about that question is that I believe that watching movies outside of a cinema will do that anyway. When you watch something on your TV or your laptop (or – God forbid – your phone), any sound outside the window, or alert from your various electronic gizmo, or even comings and goings of people who might also call the place you sit in their home can prevent you from drowning in a film. So perhaps wanting to record a quote, or denote a question prevents one from fully engaging…but no more so than walking to the fridge to refill your glass.
The funny thing is that sometimes there have been films that have held my rapt attention, but still prodded me to take pages and pages of notes.
Other times, well…
From my experience, the only real challenge to note-taking in a cinema is keeping things legible. You’re working quickly, it’s dark, you’re not necessarily looking down. Put it all together and you can end up with some chicken scratch, such as the bottom of this page:
Then again, sit close enough to the screen, and you’d be surprised the amount of brightness it gives off…
I’d never say that taking notes is a “must” or anything, I’d only say that for me when I want to soak up a lot of material at once – or write about something with a little more depth – that I have found the notes handy. There are an awful lot of thoughts that go through our heads in a given day, and sometimes a really good one that can make for some half decent writing disappears without a trace if it isn’t written down.
My only other thought regarding whether or not note-taking prevents me from truly losing myself in a film is that the reactions, points, and questions that I jot down are running through my head anyway. So even if I don’t scribble ’em out, they’ll be rattling around my noodle while events play out on-screen.
It takes a little bit of getting used to, but considering how attention-deficit society has become, I’d wager that anyone can walk-and-chew-gum in this manner with greater ease than they’d expect.
I’ve taken notes during and/or right after seeing movies, and I find both techniques helpful – especially because, like you said, when you watch so many films and want to review most of them, memory can be of little help. Even right after certain movies, if you rely solely on your memory, you may miss some things. Anyway I agree, it is all about balance, and I don’t think that taking a few notes hurts your “movie experience” all that much.
It’s also interesting to compare one’s reaction while watching the film, with our perception a few days later. That’s why I like the Little White Lies rating so much, that is: Anticipation, Enjoyment, and In Retrospect.
I’m woefully ill-versed with Little White Lies, but I love that idea of a rating system.
You bring up a good point though – one advantage of taking notes is that it captures your line-of-tinking “in the moment”, which you can later compare to where your brain goes upon reflection.
I have taken notes.. when I have gone to the cinema alone but I really haven’t done it lately. I should pick it up again because I keep forgetting things after the movie.
PS: Your handwriting is awesome!
Ever make notes while you’re watching something at home?
I’ve never been in a note taker in theaters, but I can definitely see the reasons for it. I used to sometimes take notes at home, but I found myself writing too much and then barely using it. There have been exceptions where I was doing a really long post about a certain topic like journalism in Citizen Kane. Since I wanted to reference specific scenes with detail, I needed extra info. Plus, I was stopping the film since I’d seen it a lot. That’s the exception, though.
the point you bring up is where I think it’s most valuable – if you’re trying to write something specific about a film you’ve seen before. It goes hand-in-hand with a rewatch to craft a specific argument.
Appropriate that you bring up KANE as your example, since I too watched that one pen-in-hand once; to compare and contrast it with THE SOCIAL NETWORK. That was back around the time the two films were being mentioned in the same breath. I could go on, but you can just as easily find that rant in my back pages.
My hat’s off to you, sir – your note-taking handwriting is 100x more legible than mine. 🙂 I usually only take notes when I’m going to review something, so not much these days, but a lot more in the past and at festivals. Half the time I get home and can’t even begin to read what I wrote, but the act of writing it down helps me remember it later so it’s worthwhile anyway.
When I sang in high school, I found that the best way to memorize lyrics was to write them out myself. Weird the way that works.
That was also around the time my handwriting became what it is. A new friend kept complaining that he couldn’t read my cursive, so to be a twit I took an inordinate amount of time and wrote what he needed to read in the most clearly legible printing I could muster. Slowly, I just stopped writing in cursive and that stupidly-legible-printing became my handwriting.
Taking notes is only something I started doing within the last two years or so and, like you, I only really take them during film festival screenings.
My biggest challenge is deciding what’s worth writing down. In the worse cases, I end up writing down a point-form summary of every major event in the film.
It’s all about balance.
To me there’s no point in writing down plot events since they are most easily sourced after the fact. Focus on your own emotions and more intricate details of what’s happening on-screen.
Interesting discussion point. (love the photos, btw!) I never take notes while reviewing movies, even during festivals. A notebook can be distracting and, like you said, a lot of the thoughts you have during the film will probably be there when it’s over. It can also be redundant to bring a notebook since there are so many helpful press materials (notes, trailers, clips) that can refresh one’s memory as well. It’s best just to enjoy the film… If you can’t remember it, it probably wasn’t that good.
Although had I brought a pen, I might have corrected your notes on Labor Day. (Great film!)
…you’d correct my Labor Day notes in what way, exactly?
I don’t take notes. I can retain it enough until I get home and write out my thoughts. It’s a nice compromise. We’ll see as the years pass if that stays the same. Love your handwriting BTW and the photos. Cheers.
Welcome to The Matinee, Dani!
As my filmgoing routine stands, I’m like you and can retain most of what I want to say. It’s generally only during festivals where I take pen-to-paper.
Great topic Ryan!
I take notes about 70% of the time.
Mainly for key names of minor characters or locations that I tend to forget. I also note how the film is shot. Lighting that works well in a scene, a great transition or how the camera is positioned or moves during a sequence.
Norman
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had something to say about a place, a quote, or a side character but decided to drop the point because I couldn’t keep my facts straight. I get especially grumpy when it’s a detail I can’t seem to confirm through Google.
I never take notes during a film unless I’m seeing two where I bring my laptop to the theater and write the notes after the first film is finished.
Don’t believe in old-school pen and paper?
If I remember to bring a pad along I’ll take notes, I’ve mastered the writing without looking thing from school so it tends not to distract me.
But, I’ll admit, usually I end up remembering the most innocuous of details of a film so note taking is principally for quotations. I’m much too careless to do it with as much industriousness as you do.
Re: “small pad”, I usually keep a notebook on the go so during festivals and the like, it tends to be put in the pockets right after wallet and keys.
Funny thing – I can often remember those innocuous details too, but then I’ll find myself struggling to remember something like the specific phrasing of a quote.