The pacing of TV shows is, in my opinion, not that great. There’s a lot of story or visual lulls where if I don’t have a second screen, I’ll just end up wandering away from the TV and won’t finish the show.
Before we had screens, we had newspapers, magazines and coffee table books. I remember this happening quite a bit when watching TVs prior to second screens even existing.
> There’s a lot of story or visual lulls where if I don’t have a second screen, I’ll just end up wandering away from the TV and won’t finish the show.
I think a lot of people feel this way, and not to place too much faith in TV show writers but this seems like a shame as it limits what experiences can be delivered by the medium.
This is exactly what has happened with movies, as well. At some point in the 2010's I noticed that in many movies I watched almost every shot was in motion. No moment of stillness or quieter reflection, just constant noise and motion, even in movies I thought were particularly good like the new Mad Max movie.
I think it's essentially a battle being fought between screens: the movie can't let the modern audience's attention waver for even a second, otherwise they might look down at their "second screen", lose track of the plot and consequently believe the movie wasn't that great.
This sucks because restful or reflective moments can give you a sense of sheltering, or the calm before a storm (for example), but you just can't get that feeling without moments where the camera calms down and people stop shouting.
Marvel movies are all a prime example of the “all filler” garbage remake movies with sequel after sequel, advertising to you and fulfilling the lowest common denominator. Marvel movies are trash. All the phony superhero movies are made distractions for grown men to act like kids with superhero figures. They all are getting political, I can’t believe how duped they have “critical thinking” “hackers.”
Lossy = I don't need all the data. I can look away for most of a baseball game and still enjoy it. But if it's some intense drama like Game of Thrones then I need to see it all. You miss a scene and you're confused for episodes to come.
Regardless of terminology, I'm trying to communicate the idea that some media demands your full attention while others don't.
Maybe a better example is a podcast vs. music. You don't really need to absorb, consciously, every note and lyric of a song. But a podcast demands your attention.
No, it depends on what content you're looking for. There are certain series where if I only care about the plot, I can find a synopsis on a wiki somewhere, or just listen to the show in the background. But if I want to get the full visual experience in the acting, cinematography, and production, I need to watch in order to be emotionally engaged.
many of us, myself included, find silence distracting. I prefer to have something going on around me, whether the buzz of a coffee shop or a tv show I’ve seen lots of times droning on in the background.
Lately since Disney+ launched that’s been episodes of The Simpson’s for me. I’ve seen all the early stuff enough that I don’t need to give it anywhere near my full attention to still enjoy it and occasionally chuckle while I’m writing an email or putting together some low complexity code.
Before we had screens, we had newspapers, magazines and coffee table books. I remember this happening quite a bit when watching TVs prior to second screens even existing.