Video Hall Space Culture Research

From mid-to-late 1980 s to the new century eve,with cinemas declining in the tide of market competition,video halls spread across the streets and alleys of urban and rural China,becoming the main public viewing space for Chinese film audiences.The video hall is a special product of China 's special historical period of social transformation,and is the epitome of China 's social,economic and cultural development in the process of modernization.For a long time,video hall has been in the field of competition with the official system and on the verge of legal and illegal operations.Due to its heterogeneous projection practice and the semi-underground management,video hall has become a "grey space" that is different from the usual cinemas and excluded by the mainstream society.However,video hall is also an important growth space for Chinese film audiences as it not only reshapes the audience's viewing experience but also builds the viewing memories of a generation.From cinemas to video halls,the changing of viewing space is the epitome of China's social,economic,and cultural changes as well as the history of Chinese film audiences' growth.This paper selects articles about "Memories of Video Hall" from websites of Douban,Personal Library and 360 and adopts the methods of text analysis and document analysis.Based on Space Theory,the research is done from three aspects--physical,cultural and social space of video hall.From the perspective of interaction between space and audiences,the paper explores how video hall,as the important growth space for Chinese film audiences,affects the audiences' viewing experience from mid-to-late 1980 s to the new century eve.And what is the connection between Chinese social changes and video hall--the public entertainment space sprouting in the period of China's social transformation? This paper manages to see the social symptoms of "big space" and "big history" through "small space" and "small history".This paper is mainly divided into three chapters.The first chapter explores the characteristics of the physical space of video hall and studies how these characteristics affect the audiences' viewing habits and experiences from the aspects of the spatial distribution,geographical location,viewing conditions,and viewing atmosphere of video hall.Video hall provides a convenient,low-cost,and secluded place for Chinesemoviegoers.Its viewing space as a "small hall",de-ritualized way of viewing,flowing order of viewing,and unique screening practice have actually promoted the audiences' dominance and fostered the individualized consciousness of Chinese film audiences.And video hall has also become a transition space where the public viewing activity changes from a collective one to an individual one.The second chapter explores the cultural space of video hall and analyzes the types of films shown in the video hall and the communication effect of these films.It discusses video hall's cultural meaning for Chinese film audiences from three aspects:cognitive construction,conceptual shaping and mirror practice.Video hall constructs the audiences' new knowledge of the film concept,enlightens the audiences about love and sex,and encourages the public imagination of foreign countries and modernity.Also,video hall stimulates the audiences' rebellious,consumer and individual consciousness.In addition,the video hall has also formed a group of star chasers,movie fans and film experts.The screening of violent and pornographic films has also induced adolescent deviant behavior.The new viewing experience shaped by this heterogeneous space not only plays a huge role in promoting the recovery and development of Chinese film industry in the new century,but also accelerates the process of Chinese social modernization and individualization.The third chapter explores the social space of video hall and studies the changing characteristics of the grand space of Chinese society during the social transformation period from the tiny space of video hall.Connecting the city with the countryside and the local with the global,video hall has become an unique space for the integration of Chinese urban and rural areas after the reform and opening up as well as the first space for the connection of Chinese film audiences and global culture.Video hall also subverts the audience structure of traditional film groups and restores the audience to the individual,which is the inevitable result of social,economic and institutional changes after China's reform and opening up.The chaos of the social space of video hall was also an antenna and microcosm of the society at that time.