This Is Why Extreme Close-Ups Only Work for the Silver Screen

The last few years have been a strange time for movie theaters. 

Strange may not be the right word, but it captures the feeling you have when you’re looking at the movies playing at a theater near you and notice that all there is to watch is big-budget action movies. 

This is a worrying trend that many have been noticing when it comes to what the industry believes should be on a big screen and what belongs on a streaming service. Typically, event movies go to the theater and might have a same-day release on a streaming platform, and independent and mid-budget movies live and die on a streaming platform. 

There are many reasons why people may not see going to the movie theaters as worth it. From people talking during the movie to someone releasing a bat in the theater to potential infection from any strand of COVID-19, many people don’t see any reason why they should go out when they could watch the movie from the comfort of their couch. 

But Nerdwriter1 realized there is one huge element missing when you watch a movie at home: you don’t get to see the epic nature of the human face.  

Faces in cinema out-perform any explosions or action-packed stunts. There are so many subtleties of an actor’s performance in an extreme close-up that create an intensity that is so hard to pull away from. If you are watching a film or show on your phone and there is an extreme close-up, you won’t be able to see all of the twitches and adjustments that create tension between the actor and the viewer. 

Massive faces emoting on massive screens are key elements to a story and how that character fits into the larger story. Stories are fundamentally about people and how they reveal themselves through their reactions. Faces are where the most important, impactful, and intense parts of the story occur. 

The human brain is attuned to faces and can recognize the smallest details almost instantly. When these faces are examined on a big screen, the audience has a chance to fully understand what a character is expressing and can further develop a deeper understanding of the film. 

If movie theaters are a place for spectacle, then we must realize the beauty of the face and what it has to offer the narrative of the film. We see things in the film that we may never see in person, and to experience that moment is revolutionary for the soul. 

Yes, it is understandable why people are comfortable with watching movies for the first time on a streaming platform, but there are so many elements to the story that are going unnoticed simply because of the size of the screen. Unless you have an at-home movie theater or a huge TV screen, some of the greatest performances in an extreme close-up may go unnoticed and leave no impact on you as it would if you watched the film on the silver screen. 

Do you have a life-changing moment while watching a film at your movie theater? Let us know what it is in the comments!  

Source: Nerdwriter1