During this year’s Spring Festival, the box office hit a new high in film history. Along with the increase in the number of movie viewings and the number of moviegoers, there is also a growing discussion among the public about screen photography – the use of mobile phones to capture movie content while watching movies. A point that many people agree with is that most of the screen shooting content will be presented on social media, so the behavior of screen shooting objectively helps the film promotion.
Are the screen shots helping to promote the movie? A reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News conducted an exclusive interview with Liu Jiaqi, a partner of Beijing Surprise Sometimes Culture Media Co., Ltd., on this issue. This senior film promoter in the industry clearly expressed his views:“Screen photographers actually do more harm than help to film promotion.”
Your “favorite” photos may offend others
Yangcheng Evening News: Several days after the Spring Festival, public discussion about screen photography is still heated. This matter started with a certain celebrity’s screen-taking behavior, and netizens expressed their opinions. I found that there is a point of view that is recognized by many netizens, that is, screen photography is to help promote the movie. Do you think film promotion requires audience screen shots?
Liu Jiaqi: I personally don’t think it is necessary. As a movie promoter, we usually deploy enough materials before a movie is released, including stills, posters, trailers, etc. On the one hand, these materials are to show the highlights of the film, and on the other hand, they are also to meet the audience’s communication needs on social platforms.
A very obvious problem with screen-shot content is that the picture effect is not good and the charm of the movie cannot be fully displayed. Just kidding, we usually add a beauty filter to our selfies, how can we tolerate such a random and rough presentation of movie scenes? If you are not sitting in the “C seat” in the theater, the picture taken may even be distorted.
Yangcheng Evening News: Some netizens believe that what they shoot and disseminate is what they think is the most exciting content of the movie, and these content are sometimes not included in the materials provided by the movie promoters.
Liu Jiaqi: Is there a possibility that what I think is the best thing about a movie is exactly what you think is the worst thing to watch? If you encounter such a situation, after reading my screen shots, you may decide not to watch the movie. This is obviously a disservice to publicity.
In fact, this possibility is not small. The reason why movie promoters have to spend money to hire people to take stills and make posters, and also use various scientific and technological means to correct these materials, is precisely to use the best effect to present the excitement of the movie, so that most people can watch it Be interested in movies. It is obviously difficult to achieve this effect when taking pictures with a mobile phone screen.
Yangcheng Evening News: I like it, but you don’t. This is sometimes reflected in the fact that different fans like different scenes with different emphasis.
Liu Jiaqi: Yes, for example, if you photograph the particularly good-looking side of actor A, but also show the not-so-good-looking side of actor B, this will easily arouse the resentment of the latter’s fans.
In fact, the promoters have put a lot of thought into every movie material you see. The composition must be good, the lighting and shadows must be good, all the actors must be good-looking, and there must be emotional expression… This is not a casual thing.
Even if the main creator invites you, don’t use screen shots to promote
Yangcheng Evening News: Nowadays, screen-shooting audiences basically take more photos than video. Some netizens think that I just took one or two photos, how much harm can it cause?
Liu Jiaqi: Film is a mobile art. With a 24-frame-per-second movie, can we really capture the frame we want most? In fact, many times you just take a high-resolution photo.
Yangcheng Evening News: There is also a common view among netizens that since I have spent money to watch a movie, don’t I even have the right to take pictures?
Liu Jiaqi: The “Film Industry Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China” stipulates that no audio or video recording of movies being shown is allowed, and since everyone has spent money to watch movies, everyone should have the right to watch a movie without interruption. This is something I personally feel as a viewer. Once when I was watching a movie, I was full of emotions. The person in front of me raised his phone and the screen flashed, and my emotions were interrupted.
In addition, if screen shooting becomes a habit, then if I take photos today, I might start taking videos tomorrow. This time the shot was for 2 seconds, the next time it was 10 seconds, and the next time it was 2 minutes. I once saw an audience member holding up his mobile phone at the beginning of the movie. Maybe he only wanted to take a picture of the beginning, but he didn’t expect that the subtitles were very long, so he kept holding his mobile phone until the subtitles were finished and the actors appeared. Several minutes passed.
Yangcheng Evening News: Screen shooting also involves a spoiler issue. Sometimes we see other people’s screenshots online and accidentally get spoiled.
Liu Jiaqi: The Spring Festival release of “Hot and Spicy” encountered this situation. Many people took pictures of Jia Ling after losing weight and posted them online while watching the preview. As everyone knows, Jia Ling insisted on not going out for a long time just to keep her current condition a secret before the movie was released. As a result, before the film was released, the high-profile “successful weight loss” scene was posted on the Internet. Not to mention that the film’s promotional rhythm was disrupted, and the final promotional effect was also greatly affected. You can compare the screen shot of Jia Ling with the official stills released later. Which one gives you a more shocking feeling?
Yangcheng Evening News: It’s not just ordinary viewers who engage in screen filming. For example, if a public figure is invited to watch a movie by a familiar creator, and they post screen shots on social platforms, does this count as promoting the film?
Liu Jiaqi: A film usually has many producers. When subsequent films are released on video platforms, the rights and interests of the platform parties need to be considered. Therefore, it cannot be said that I was invited by the main creator, so I have enough reason to take screen shots.
Please enjoy movies with your eyes, not your phone
Yangcheng Evening News: Screen photography actually reflects a social need of the audience. As a film promoter, is there any way that the audience can still meet their social and sharing needs without having to screen the film?
Liu Jiaqi: We should listen more to the needs of the audience. I remember that when the movie “Flash Girl” was released, there was a scene that most viewers found particularly irritating. Later, the publicity “listened to the advice” and released the entire scene on social media.
If you really like a certain plot of a certain movie, you can go to Douban, Maoyan, the movie’s video account and other channels to look for the corresponding stills and trailers after watching the movie. If you can’t find it, you can report it to the promoter on each platform. As a promoter, we are actually very happy to see the audience’s feedback and are willing to communicate with the audience. We also hope to present the materials that everyone wants within the scope of copyright control.
Yangcheng Evening News: Most of the current ticket purchasing platforms can customize electronic movie tickets, which also makes it convenient for everyone to share on social media after watching the movie.
Liu Jiaqi: Yes. As a promoter, we can prepare more posters and stills for the platform so that audiences have more choices when customizing and sharing electronic movie tickets.
Yangcheng Evening News: What suggestions do you have for cinemas?
Liu Jiaqi: Nowadays, many movies will produce as many materials as possible for theaters if the budget allows, such as movie posters and character stand-ups. Cinemas can display these materials so that audiences can take photos after watching the film and share them on social platforms.
Yangcheng Evening News: Finally, what else do you want to say to the audience?
Liu Jiaqi: What I want to say is that if we really love a movie, we will definitely not want to promote it in a way that harms it, such as raising a mobile phone to take pictures or videos during the movie screening.
Moreover, this kind of behavior not only damages the rights and interests of other moviegoers, but also damages our own interests – at least at the moment of screen shooting, we certainly cannot enjoy the movie 100%.
Let us use our eyes and ears more than our mobile phones to experience the beauty of movies.
Text | Reporter Li Li
Pictures | Stills
Editor: Li Li
