OPINION: The performance dilemma

As a “movie guy,” I’ve come to expect a very rigid idea of performance. What do I mean by that?

In movies, the expectation is that an audience will stay in their seat and view the movie for the full runtime, start to end, without interruption. In a theater, the movie won’t pause, no matter what.

This also means the way movies are edited are designed around the experience of being unable to walk away. This might have changed recently with the abundance of streaming service releases, but, in general, movies are designed for this one specific way of viewing.

This curtailing of experience is the performance I refer to. The actors’ performances, the editing of scenes, the cinematography and so much else are designed in a way for the experience of being unable to turn away from viewing.

What fascinated me recently is the discovery Netflix has a setting on their mobile app or browser to increase or decrease the playback speed of whatever you’re watching. What an interesting feature.

For starters, I assume this feature is here for those with busy schedules who wish to blast through as much content as possible. Seems appropriate, but there’s a scratching itch in my brain against this.

I don’t think the amount of content one is able to watch actually matters. There’s no prize given to whoever watches the most episodes of “Stranger Things.” I may be crazy in how I want to watch as much as possible, but it’s never for the purpose of bragging. I’d never tell anyone how much I spend the little free time I have sitting on a couch all day.

I could poke at the idea of retention or how much an audience might remember something when they’re just speeding through, but I’m not in the opinion of judging others for this. Frankly, retention is overrated. If someone’s not enjoying what they’re watching, why expect them to dedicate their full attention?

This isn’t a world of constant book reports. Unless you plan to discuss a piece of media with someone or watch something as a communal experience, retention is just filling the head with trivia.

So, what could the damage of this playback speed feature be? If someone wanted to watch a movie but watches it at two times its intended speed, is that experience comparable to the normal speed? In my honest opinion, I must say no.

In the same way that watching a movie clip isn’t the same as watching it within the full context, blasting through every scene or moment of downtime ruins how these movies are constructed. Whether a bombastic action scene or moment of silent conversation, these moments matter.

This is how movies are constructed. What about a novel?

Over the past month I’ve dived back into audiobooks, mostly because of good walking weather. Most audiobook apps have a feature where you can increase the reading speed of the narrator.

I set the narration speed somewhere between 1.2 or 1.5 times the normal speed. This matches my reading speed, but it begs the question: am I a hypocrite?

I’ve had this discussion with my coworkers, and I always justified against changing the narration speed by citing my argument for preserving the performance. The choice of the narrator to speak at a certain speed is an artistic choice which should be preserved.

But, in a medium based on translating the written word, is this really true? A book is intended to be picked up, dropped, thrown in a bag, pulled out in a waiting room, bookmarked and then returned to a shelf or table to start the process all over again. Reading speed is different from person to person.

My coworkers finally convinced me that changing the narration speed is perfectly fine. In the end, there’s a real sense of performance from the narrator, but changing the speed isn’t damaging to it. Narration is different from watching a play or a movie.

There’s one other nagging part of this though that I worry about. Audiobooks, in the digital age, have the history of changing playback speed firmly established. Could the same eventually be true for movies?

I hold a deep respect for artistry and try to give my full attention to whatever piece of media I’m consuming. I understand circumstances can be far different for other people and this respect doesn’t give me any special points. But what does this trend mean for the wider industry?

Will movies have to be designed around an audience who don’t actually want to watch it as intended? I don’t think we’re at that point yet, but the option being available does worry me. I’m sure whatever data is being collected will inform the industry for years to come.