The Differences in Designing for Film Versus Theater
Design elements in film are a little bit different from those of a live theater production. Theater recognizes that the actors who are in front of the audience are live. They engage with one another through their energies and their sound. They feed off of one another. If they make mistakes, then it’s live. They have to account for all of those things.
This is opposed to, let’s say, a how a movie tells a story. In a way, that’s a very finite linear narrative. Because of that linear quality, it allows the audiences, through this technology, to sit back and think about the interface of a cinema, or later, on your TV. The idea that you sit back and you absorb this story that’s being told without really being able to interject with it is a very different way of viewing a story.
That’s not to say that your brain is not working. That’s not to say that your brain doesn’t go between scenes and that this story is taking you somewhere else, which is that level of interactivity that takes place.
This places more emphasis on the UX design or UI design of the product that’s being displayed. It’s important for anyone pursuing online UX design education to think about what each choice in UX or UI requires of the audience. Think about what the anticipation or expectation of the audience is in terms of their role in viewing or experiencing this story that’s being showcased. Is their passive or active? How does that affect the design choices in the film?
