How does a films formal techniques (editing, lighting, sound) and thematic content (history, race, environment) affect the way the film looks/feels. and also how does it affect your experiences and interpretation?

Everything from the director's choice of direction to the dialogue affects the film's outcome, may it be so indirectly or directly. If the-- let's say editing-- is not assiduously worked on, the audiences will render the film altogether "lacking professional quality". If the lighting is bad, the audience may see parts of the scene that do not convey that certain moment's best emotion and, again, quality. The thematic content is the story; if the audiences do not like the story, then they won't make the effort to see the film. The film's quality largely affects the interpretation and experience of the film-- both before, during, and after the movie's viewed completion. Something as little as moving the center camera two inches toward the left wing may result in the failure of the scene.

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