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Did fans in the UK ( and other places) really not clap at any point during Infinity War?
- Thread starter Soapbox Killer
- Start date
Saw Infinity War twice and no one clapped. I'd seen Black Panther 3 times, and two of those it got an ovation at its end.
Never seen people clapping *during* any film though, ever.
Never seen people clapping *during* any film though, ever.
One of the two times I went to see CA:CW, there was a loud guy who was extremely... receptive... to anything remotely comedic that occurred but that's a different behaviour entirely
Weirdness of the act aside. I don't see why people would clap specifically with a movie where the heroes lose.
I only heard people get excited during the opening night showing I went to, the other showings were all fairly quiet the whole movie. I'm from the US. That's probably why the opening night showing was my favorite, it was fun knowing other people were as hyped as I was at points in the movie.
Edit: My favorite though was the people gasping at the final few minutes and crying as they were walking out, really drove home the ending. Also loved how maybe 1 person got up and left before the credits finished, everyone else was glued to their seats hoping for a credit scene that would give some hope.
Edit: My favorite though was the people gasping at the final few minutes and crying as they were walking out, really drove home the ending. Also loved how maybe 1 person got up and left before the credits finished, everyone else was glued to their seats hoping for a credit scene that would give some hope.
If, Hello from Scotland, I was in the Cinema watching a movie and someone clapped at the appearance of Thor I would assume they were either a child or dolly dimple. I did not see it at the Cinema though so I was spared any such assumptions. I did not clap sitting at home though. Maybe it's a cultural thing? Do you clap when he appears in a graphic novel?
If I saw people walking out crying at the end of Avengers 3 because a couple superheroes went up in dust I'd probably weep too
I'm British and have been going to the cinema a few times a month for most of my life, never seen clapping. Even during Infinity War. Have seen notable excitement, fear, sadness and obviously laughing but never clapping. Obviously when it's an event screening where somebody related to the movie is there or it's a play in a theatre people clap, it would be rude not to.
I've seen two movies in the US, Wreck it Ralph and The Raid 2 - both in New York. People clapped and WOULD NOT SHUT THE FUCK UP during both showings, eating vile stinky food and being very disrespectful. Really ruined the experience for me and my girlfriends.
I've seen two movies in the US, Wreck it Ralph and The Raid 2 - both in New York. People clapped and WOULD NOT SHUT THE FUCK UP during both showings, eating vile stinky food and being very disrespectful. Really ruined the experience for me and my girlfriends.
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Oh yeah it was totally silent at first. It took like a minute of credits rolling before people clapped.
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In spite of the overtly condescending tone and lack of basic reading comprehension in this thread, I have still managed to learn a bit more about folks across the pond.
UK here - have experienced very polite, subdued applause as the credits begin to roll. Have genuinely never experienced it in any other moment of a film in my life, with one exception - during The Force Awakens and Episode 3 release-day showings some people clapped when the Star Wars fanfare began and the opening crawl started.
Feels like in the movie you run the risk of a spare of applause drowning out some sudden dialogue... so people just don't do it.
Feels like in the movie you run the risk of a spare of applause drowning out some sudden dialogue... so people just don't do it.
Why would you? There's no one to share your excitement with.
Maybe this is the difference between the clappers and the no-clappers. I'm British and I don't see watching a movie in the cinema as being about sharing excitement with others. For me, it's not a social experience. I'm sat in the dark with a bunch of people I don't want to hear from. When the credits roll, I might as well be on my own. The only reason I go is to see a movie on a huge screen with the best picture and sound, and not have to wait for the home release. I don't get a sense of sharing excitement, and I don't want one either. I wouldn't clap a movie if I'm sat watching it in my front room, so I'm not going to clap when I watch in the cinema either.
That is indeed the difference. In America, certain movies in and of themselves are social events.
Are the movie screenings advertised as such? There are movies here too with massive midnight launch parties but even at such events it is wildly inappropriate and incredibly rude to be audible or make noise during the actual movie. The social event is the party before and afterwards which is where excitement is shared, but if you made noise during the movie you'd be removed. There are screening where audience participation is explicitly advertised and encouraged (e.g. showings labelled as sing-alongs) but at other events that simply isn't acceptable.
If the screenings are explicitly advertised as social events and it's advertised that there will be audience participation then that's entirely different (and probably should have been mentioned in the OP) but if not it seems unwarranted to assume that just because you enjoy audience participation that it's an accepted norm and people going to the movie during the opening period are going in with that assumption.
No. That's just a cultural expectation at this point.
The concept of hype pervades America's relationship with its media, which is further bolstered by the acceptance of geeky interests and a shift towards more mainstream products that tell more niche and minority stories. We're loud, boisterous, emotional folks. We exaggerate things. We can take anything excitable and anticipated and make it a communal memory with others, even if those others are complete strangers.
Trying to tell a room full of late 20-year olds to be quiet when they are watching the climax of a 10-year long narrative, or a room full of black folks not to cheer when a black horror film protagonist is spared from murder by cop, is a fool's errand. You will likely be ignored or told to shut the fuck up.
If you wish to avoid the fervor and celebratory nature that accompanies American screenings of huge blockbuster event films, you see it a week or two out. You don't go opening night and then get mad that the room doesn't care about your particular preferences.
I wanna hear the film, not the assholes around me.
People always laugh out loud at funny parts but never cheer to a bunch of actors who'll never see it. It's kinda pathetic, like clapping to your ipod. Or your games console. Or your TV.
In general, pretty much every cinema I've been in will throw people out of they make too much noise (ask them to leave anyway).
People always laugh out loud at funny parts but never cheer to a bunch of actors who'll never see it. It's kinda pathetic, like clapping to your ipod. Or your games console. Or your TV.
In general, pretty much every cinema I've been in will throw people out of they make too much noise (ask them to leave anyway).
Seems to me that there should be two screenings at once in that case, it's incredibly shitty to ruin the experience of some people because 'it's the expectation', with the only real option provided for those who don't want that being waiting and hoping they can avoid spoilers for a fortnight - which would be a miracle as this is one of the most talked about films of the last few years.
Either that or the people who don't like the clapping should be fine to call a manager on those being loud, same as if they were on phones or talking loudly with friends. As you say, the loud people shouldn't be mad that the rest of the room doesn't care about their particular preferences either.
Your experience can only be ruined if you expect pitch perfect theater decorum on opening night of an event film, which is stupid from an American point of view. You go opening night specifically to immerse yourself in crowd reactions.
Good luck trying to get minimum wage workers to care enough to even bother formulating a plan on how you kick an entire theater full of people out because one person doesn't know the game by now. I really want to see someone try it.
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Bingo.
I understand the thinking behind a quiet yet engaging theater however, I suggest if you get the chance , try it. It's something you'll remember for a long time.
I think back to when this first happened for me and it had to be The Phantom Menace almost 20 years ago. Midnight showing for the first Star Wars movie in 20 years. Now that was an event. People standing in line for days, news coverage, costumes , lightsaber battles in the parking lot. It felt like the SuperBowl of movies at the time. It changed everything for me as a moviegoer who was not born in 1977 when the first movie came out.
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I believe most people here know when and which movies to go to for their expected experience. There of plenty of places to choose from.
You guys never seen a Nintendo Direct recaction from the Nintendo World Store? Or an E3? We get hype for shit we love, Sony had E3 screenings for press conferences and those shits sold out (Free, I know). Give us a reason to fellowship about anything and we will.
Respect what you guys do however.
Again nobody is following a narrative here. I'm paying to see a movie (A fair bit now too, shits expensive), not miss some of the movie due to loud assholes, it'd be the same if someone was talking on their phone or whatever, it's intrusive to the experience and disrepectful to the paying customer to assume your experience is somehow more important than theirs.
If you want audience participation showings then awesome, my fiancee dragged me to a sing along version of The Greatest Showman and it was fun and everyone got involved, but that's not how I'd of wanted to experience it originally.
The moments that people react to are not dialogue-driven moments. They're introductions, power-ups, villain deaths, and plot turns- stuff studios know are going to cause reactions.
Festivals do over here, on rolling credits. But that's really it as far as clapping is concerned. It's just a different cinema culture here in Europe.
I really don't know what the point of the discussion here is. For Europeans to say how stupid it is or Americans to say how dull and boring we all are.
I really don't know what the point of the discussion here is. For Europeans to say how stupid it is or Americans to say how dull and boring we all are.
Who tf claps during a movie? I mean, i could kinda understand at the end... I have never heard anyone clapping during a movie here in Italy.
This has been a thing forever--people lost their shit at Darth Vader's face turn in Return of the Jedi.
A Pauline Kael review (The French Connection?) mentioned that some viewers were so pumped during the climax of The Dirty Dozen that they were kicking the seat cushions in front of them out of excitement.
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Yupper!
"Obi wan meet Anakin Skywalker"
Clap
R2d2 on screen for the first time?
Clap
Darth Maul from behind the Double Doors?
"OH SHIT SON!" Clap!
credits?
Clap
fanfare?
Clap
Opening Crawl with that music?
Complete eruption of joy and clapping!!
I originally asked about how fans reacted but that has be completely ignored so...
At the beginning of the film, yes. That's really the only time I've heard clapping in a theater is either the beginning or the end. I've heard cheering quite a bit, though
It's not been ignored; there's no difference. People don't yell in the cinema fans or not. Midnight screening events are not rowdy or much different to any other screening except for the social events surrounding them.
The point of the discussion was to ask non-US members what their theater culture was like for event films like Infinity War.
We couldn't have a nice conversation about it.
This is still going?
Been to midnight showings for plenty of things. Let's talk about Infinity War in particular, a packed IMAX. No one clapped during the film, at the end a row of people at the back clapped and the rest of the theater turned around and glared at them and gave them the scorn they deserved because of the rest of us aren't children who feel the need to clap at anything mildly amusing. People cheered before the film when the lights went off sure, but after that nah.
Reasons to clap:
Been to midnight showings for plenty of things. Let's talk about Infinity War in particular, a packed IMAX. No one clapped during the film, at the end a row of people at the back clapped and the rest of the theater turned around and glared at them and gave them the scorn they deserved because of the rest of us aren't children who feel the need to clap at anything mildly amusing. People cheered before the film when the lights went off sure, but after that nah.
Reasons to clap:
- Member(s) of the cast or crew are present at this screening
- It's an 'event' screening, like say the 'The Room' fan screenings
- You're under the age of 8
- You're a grown adult watching a film in the cinema
- You can think to yourself 'wow that was a cool moment' in your head
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The only audible reaction I've ever experienced is laughing - and I'm glad for that.
Except for Twilight 2, where dozens of girls ghasped at every romantic line of dialogue, and every male shirtless scene.
Except for Twilight 2, where dozens of girls ghasped at every romantic line of dialogue, and every male shirtless scene.
The only time I experienced it was at the end of Shut Up and Play The Piano because Chilly Gonzales and the director were there. Other than that I feel it's super weird.
I am from America and I've never understood clapping in movies. There's no one there to recieve your praise. You're clapping at a lifeless screen.