Home Cinema

Our plan was to an intervention in Kino, by making postcards about the lacking diversity in Kino's programme and the general film industry. We wanted to put these postcards in Kino's postcard racks, but this plan felt kind of safe. Then the cinemas closed and we were forced to look elsewhere. We figured that the only place we could find Kino, other than Kino, was in our homes.

We decided to have a movie night together in which we try to bring the cinema to our living room. We watched the arthouse film, "The Color of Pomegranates", in a way we would watch a Netflix film. We wore comfortable clothes and laid back on the sofa, talking, laughing, playing on Nintendo's against each other, scrolling through our phones, and not paying attention to the film at all. This was interesting, as the film was very complex and atmospheric, you have to pay attention to it.

Then we watched the Netflix film "A Christmas Prince," the Kino way. We sat straight on chairs being distanced from each other and payed full attention to the film. We dressed up, wearing long coats, red lipstick and high heels. We drank wine and tea, and did not interact with each other. This was an unusual experience, as we don't connect this manner of watching with a bad low budget film. We restricted our bodies and it was hard not to laugh or interact with each other. Above are two videos showing our experiences.

1. Christmas Prince part 1
2. Very nice, not complicated at all, just what I needed
3. I was with company, which made the experience more real, as if we were going out together!
4. Not talking was a bit difficult, and I wanted to go on my phone to check the cast. ‘Who is that actress?’
5. I thought I would break all rules, but it went well! Wearing ‘fancy clothes and shoes’ helped to stay where I was, and sit upright.
6. Yes, it helped me to focus on the film, which was more enjoyable than I thought. Had I been on the sofa in my jogging pants, I would haven given up already.
7. The genre of the film was not really arthouse, so it was difficult to have that experience. But the small table with the drinks helped, and also that my companion was wearing a red baret.

1. I picked A Christmas Prince, as I had seen Midsummer recently, I decided to watch the other suggested movie, without having heard anything about it.

2. I enjoyed the movie as it was a fun and easy watch. Would not recommend do anyone looking for an enjoyable time in front of Netflix, but did not regret watching it.

3. I was watching with my boyfriend. This made the preparation for the experience more fun.

4. I followed all the rules. What was more difficult to follow was to sit upright on a chair. Even though my chairs were very comfortable, I rarely watch a movie at home when I don't end up slouched on the couch or my bed.

5. The rules made it fun to enjoy the movie. It kind of disconnected me from my living room a little bit, as I transformed it into what was more likely to be a cinema. It made them fun, especially when preparing and reading it with a companion before the experience.

6. Definitely, it ensured a true experience. It really distinguished itself from all those times I watch a movie at home, several times a week. It made sure I could think about the movie, and just the movie; which I rarely do at home. I quickly get distracted or start doing other things at the same time.

7. I did, especially given the fact that I was so thouroughly given instructions, I went out of my way to make sure I felt at Kino.

Our next step was making this a collective experience, in which we involve others. We created a digital and physical handbook and kit on how to create an arthouse film experience in your own home. In the guide there are very clear rules on how to act, dress and behave. We want to queer the space by making the invisible rules in arthouse cinemas visible, by implementing them in your own home. We picked a certain film programme, consisting of a low budget Netflix Christmas film and the arthouse horror Midsommar. These films are so both predominantly white and both directed by white men, which links to our mapping research about Kino's film programme.

We printed the zine on high quality paper and made a small publication out of it. We decided to make one physical kit with this handbook and some objects to improve the cinematic experience.

Our physical arthouse cinema kit, containing drinks in glassware, noiseless cookies, tea, the handbook and two Nespresso pods.

While putting together the kit we realized that we were already placing expectations on the kit's receiver. By including espresso pods, we assume that the receiver will be of a certain background to be able to afford a coffee maker, much like how the arthouse cinema assumes its audience's socio-economic, educational and even political background from how they create their program (for example by screening many American films without subtitles, they expect the filmgoers to be fluent enough in English to not require subtitles).

We gave Elsa and Louis the physical kit and handbook, as they do not visit arthouse cinemas and we were curious in how they would react.

Okay so:
- You have a pic of my outfit
- You have a pic of my space
- I was alone
- I had a cup of green tea
- It was very odd? Hahah Made me realize how uncomfortable or limiting the cinema is, but you don't realize it there. I actually should have put my cup of tea on the ground, cus there is never a place to put them there omg. I felt super limited to do this in my own home. Had to remind myself I shouldn't check my phone and keep my feet on the ground. I really liked the cheesy movie tho.

Questions:
1. A christmas prince
2. I enjoyed it, because it made me nostalgic. I actually saw it before! But luckily I couldn't remember much. Not that the plot wasn't predictable. It made me nostalgic, because it reminded me of when I lived with my parents and you would just watch whatever was on tv that night. That makes me miss tv, I like that feeling of tv chosing for you and through that way watching movies you would otherwise never watch. It was so cheesy, but that's what made it fun.
3. I was alone. I think that made it weirder. Why was I limiting myself like this when there was nobody to see if I followed these rules.
4. No, I really wanted to take off my shoes and sit with my feet on the couch. Which I did. I'm sorry but I just couldn't. I also checked my phone a couple of times, because I wasn't super invested in the movie. I also had to pee. If I were in a cinema I would never pee.
5. Very weird. But it's only in this setting that you realize how much invisible rules there are in a cinema. Guess this said a lot about public and private, and how much you follow these rules without realizing.
6. I think it kind of did, because these rules made sure that there wouldn't be distractions, therefore you're able to better focus on the movie.
7. Not at all. I was even more confronted with the fact how much I am not in an arthouse cinema haha.

1. a christmas prince
2. good GOD no
3. alone
4. can't do the dresscode unfortunately, but i did do all the verbal interaction, physical behavior, and food and snacks rules
5. i was so frustrated bc when i watch movies i have this tendency to make commentary, and let me tell you there's a LOT of commentary to be made within the first 15 minutes of "a christmas prince". since i can't use my phone to livechat/tweet the movie or even say my thoughts audibly to myself i ended up shaking in my seat sfkhdjhfsd
6. yes! bc the only thing i can focus on is the movie
7. i have never been to one but it does feel like i'm in a cinema, except being in a cinema never stopped me from mouthing my complaints abt a movie

1. A Christmas Prince
2. I'm quite enjoy it. A bit cliche but the twist kind of interesting. Makes me reminded to Princess Diary
3. I watch it alone, well it doesn't really affect my experience
4. It's kind of hard to follow the dress code since I don't have the items at the moment. But other rules like not going on phone I barely tempted to open it yet I still can finish the film successfully without any interruption, pause or skip.
5. The rules kind of hard to follow but actually it's fun to really into it and feel like have a cinema movie night at home. I think if I really want to go all out with the rules I need friends so the experience will be better and I can actually follow the rules.
6. I can focus on the story more even though I really tempted to do anything else like how I normally watch netflix
7. Not really, I guess the dress code and how to arrange the watching environment are playing the big roles to make you feel like you were at arthouse cinema

Hanna :

1. Midsommer
2. No I didnt not my genre
3. I did watch it with a companion, it made me want to talk to my companion about movie scenes while watching
4.yes mostly, struggled with sitting upright
5. I became more aware of my behaviour
6. in a way it did
7. not entirely, but it made a difference than just watching it in my bed

Anna :

We watched the beginning of midsommer
It had an interesting start but then it started to get scary and I don’t watch horror films so that part I didn’t like
I watched it with Hanna in our living room
It was good I always like to watch movies in company as long as we can both focus but it makes me feel like we’re on the journey together
For me it was a bit restricting to have rules at home around a film i don’t really like to watch a film in shoes and a hat, I like it for going to the cinema but once I’m there I take the hat off and I actually usually make sure to wear comfy and warm cozy clothes
But I usually still miss a blanket
It make me wear nice hat and shoes that I haven’t worn in a while and that’s a nice change in these grey stay at home days
Not too much but it felt nice

- It’s easier to follow the guideline with a companion because it will feel more fun, and alone it feels restricting.

- Assigning these rules at home (the private space) makes people aware of the invisible rules of behaviour and dress code in arthouse cinemas, and how we abide to them without thinking when we're in public.

- We realised how certain rules help some people focus, but it's not necessarily applicable to everyone because each person approaches focus in different ways.

What we learned from this term

- We confronted our biases about the spaces (and activities within the space) that we love. We developed a critical eye to the invisible which leads us to have a more conscientious artistic practice.

- We learned how to utilize illustration as a tool in field observation, this is something that will aid us in our future illustration practice.

3. How to continue the project in the future:
Explore more public spaces, analyze the invisible rules within them and create home kits and guidelines for each that can raise awareness of the unspoken rules we naturally follow when in public.