The Matrix

The first film I have watched for my Film Studies A-level is The Matrix.

Staring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss and directed by The Wachowskis, The Matrix is a 1999 dystopian film exploring the dangers of artificial intelligence and the idea that the human race can be blind to the truth, only believing what we want to believe. Set in a world where a war between artificial intelligence an the human race has lead to mass destruction, a type of virtual reality is created to keep the humans happy whilst the A.I use their bodies as batteries.

For this film, I chose to watch it on my laptop by renting it off Itunes. 
Whilst watching the film, I found many positive aspects to this, including being able to pause, rewind or skip forward what I wanted and be able to adjust the brightness and sound of the film to my individual preferences. However at a Cinema, I would definitely be unable to do these and it is also slightly harder or more of a hassle to these things on a T.V. Another positive aspect of the viewing platform was that due to the size of device and the privacy of being at home, I was able to move about and become more comfortable when watching the film, a definite positive with a film lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes. Linking to this, I also realised that I was able to move the screen closer or further from me, something I would not be able to do at the cinema or with a TV screen, though possible with a phone screen.

The only obvious negative to me was the difference between watching the film alone in a room and watching it a dark cinema with an audience reacting at the same time as me. The atmosphere and immersing feeling of sitting in a dark cinema does add to the experience of the film yet does not completely change my preference for this film as due to the length of it, I might of felt more uncomfortable and enjoyed it less in a cinema seat.

The key conflict within this film is Human Vs technology as the characters have to try and escape a constructed reality made for humans by the artificial intelligence that has taken over the world. The film also uses the basic plot of overcoming the monster to do this, from Christopher Booker's seven basic plot.

Therefore, I would overall say this film is best suited to being watched on a platform with a large enough screen to fully immerse yourself yet in a place of privacy where you are able to get comfortable and possibly pause if needing to.