Observing the viewer
Blog 6 , Oct. 12th -- Observation of viewing behavior:
I observed a convenient subject, my wife, watching two different shows sequentially on the same evening.
The first show was ‘Law and Order: CI’, an episode from a series in the ubiquitous ‘Law and Order’ franchise. Her general behavior while watching the show ranged from fairly detached, to distantly engaged. For the first 15-20 minutes of the episode she folded laundry. The television is equipped with TIVO, and she started watching the program about 5 minutes after its eight o’clock start time in order to enable fast forwarding through commercials. When the laundry was folded, she paused TIVO and put it away, then returned to the couch and started the program again. Her body language for the rest of the program was very relaxed, when we discussed it later she said it was something like a warm bath – she could watch it with just enough attention to follow the story, but had a minimal emotional and intellectual connection with it.
I asked why she enjoyed watching it, and she replied that it felt to her like a pretty good balance of interesting story and characters, and yet was predictable enough to follow without a lot of effort. She commented that the structure of the plot rarely changed, a major complication or shift from investigation to prosecution at the half-hour mark, and then a dramatic shift, usually in the form of a confession at the fifty to fifty-five minute mark. She said that it felt a little like a bedtime story – you know it’s all going to wrap up in the end, you just need to lie there and let it wash over you.
The second show that I observed her watching that night was ‘Project Runway’, a “reality” show about fashion designers competing for the opportunity to design a line of clothing. Her behavior during this program was significantly different; she sat upright, leaned forward and gave it her full attention. She was eager to watch it, and even unable to wait long enough for Tivo to store the commercial breaks, although she did mute them. When I asked her about the contrasting responses to the show, she replied that ‘Project Runway’ was a longer, developing series, and it typically wouldn’t be wrapped up at the end of the hour. This, however was the finale of the season, so it was the culmination of months of viewing “investment” for her. I asked why this program appealed to her. She said that first of all, she had a genuine interest in fashion design, and more significantly, the characters and the competition at once seemed so exaggerated and yet reminded her of the world she works in, (she is a choreographer, stage director and professor in the U of MN Dance dept.).
I observed a convenient subject, my wife, watching two different shows sequentially on the same evening.
The first show was ‘Law and Order: CI’, an episode from a series in the ubiquitous ‘Law and Order’ franchise. Her general behavior while watching the show ranged from fairly detached, to distantly engaged. For the first 15-20 minutes of the episode she folded laundry. The television is equipped with TIVO, and she started watching the program about 5 minutes after its eight o’clock start time in order to enable fast forwarding through commercials. When the laundry was folded, she paused TIVO and put it away, then returned to the couch and started the program again. Her body language for the rest of the program was very relaxed, when we discussed it later she said it was something like a warm bath – she could watch it with just enough attention to follow the story, but had a minimal emotional and intellectual connection with it.
I asked why she enjoyed watching it, and she replied that it felt to her like a pretty good balance of interesting story and characters, and yet was predictable enough to follow without a lot of effort. She commented that the structure of the plot rarely changed, a major complication or shift from investigation to prosecution at the half-hour mark, and then a dramatic shift, usually in the form of a confession at the fifty to fifty-five minute mark. She said that it felt a little like a bedtime story – you know it’s all going to wrap up in the end, you just need to lie there and let it wash over you.
The second show that I observed her watching that night was ‘Project Runway’, a “reality” show about fashion designers competing for the opportunity to design a line of clothing. Her behavior during this program was significantly different; she sat upright, leaned forward and gave it her full attention. She was eager to watch it, and even unable to wait long enough for Tivo to store the commercial breaks, although she did mute them. When I asked her about the contrasting responses to the show, she replied that ‘Project Runway’ was a longer, developing series, and it typically wouldn’t be wrapped up at the end of the hour. This, however was the finale of the season, so it was the culmination of months of viewing “investment” for her. I asked why this program appealed to her. She said that first of all, she had a genuine interest in fashion design, and more significantly, the characters and the competition at once seemed so exaggerated and yet reminded her of the world she works in, (she is a choreographer, stage director and professor in the U of MN Dance dept.).
posted by Steve Paul at 4:06 PM
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