Cheer screening

A cheer screening (Japanese: 応援上映, Hepburn: ouen jōei) is a type of film screening associated with Japanese cinema that encourages audience participation through cheering, typically in the form of applause, singing, and the shouting of responses to statements made by characters. Other terms used to describe this category of screening include cheering screening (チアリング上映, chiaringu jōei),[1][2] vocal screening (発声型上映, hassei-gata jōei),[3] screaming screening (絶叫上映, zekkyō jōei) [4] and voice screening (声出し上映, koedashi jōei).[5]

Cinema City in Tokyo, one of the first movie theaters to host cheer screenings

While participatory film screenings have an international history and context (most famously in midnight movie screenings of the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show), "cheer screenings" as a category gained particular popularity in Japan beginning in the early- to mid-2010s. While cheer screenings are most commonly associated with anime films, they have been held for anime and non-anime films that are both Japanese and non-Japanese in origin.

Characteristics

Cheer screenings invite audience participation through shouting, applause, and the yelling of responses to statements made by characters.[3] Other activities common at cheer screenings include cosplay, repetition of lines of dialogue,[6] singing along to songs and musical numbers,[7] and the use of glow sticks to perform wotagei (a form of coordinated cheering common at Japanese idol concerts).[6] Cheer screenings contrast starkly with typical film screenings in Japan during which absolute silence is the norm.[6]

History

In Japan

In Japan, cheer screenings were conceived in the late 2000s as a response to the proliferation of streaming media on personal devices, which has resulted in a decline in movie theater attendance.[8] In 2009, Cinema City in Tokyo screened the concert film Michael Jackson's This Is It as a "live-style screening" (ライブスタイル上映) that encouraged the audience to stand and cheer, as they would in an actual live concert performance.[8] In 2011, a "screaming night" screening was held for the anime film Sengoku Basara: The Last Party,[9] and in 2016, cheering screenings were held for the live action film High&Low The Movie.[10]

Cheer screenings were widely publicized following the release of the 2016 anime film King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm.[11][12][13] The film was specifically designed for the purpose of inviting audience participation through cheering,[14] and features pauses in dialogue to allow for cheering and shouted responses by the audience.[13] Cheering screenings for films, particularly anime films, proliferated in response to the success of King of Prism by Pretty Rhythm.[11]

As Japanese movie theaters that had been closed in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic gradually re-opened, cheer screenings were replaced with screenings where text messages from audience members were superimposed on the screen, a format similar to "bullet comments" (danmaku) common on video sharing websites such as Bilibili.[15][16]

Outside of Japan
See also: The Rocky Horror Picture Show cult following

The 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a long-established history of screenings that invite audience participation through the use of props, the shouting of lines, and the singing of songs.[17] Cheer screenings can be seen as roughly analogous to western musical films that receive limited sing-along theatrical releases, such as Mamma Mia! in 2008[18] and Frozen in 2014.[19]

Cheer screenings for Japanese films are occasionally held outside of Japan. In 2019, American film distributor GKIDS held an official cheer screening for the anime film Promare in Fort Worth, Texas,[20] a film that also held cheer screenings in Japan.[21]

Impact and analysis

Cheer screenings have been cited as an example of a shift in consumer tastes towards participatory and experience-based entertainment, allowing audiences to enjoy a form of active media consumption in a typically passive environment.[3][10] They have been noted as positively contributing to box office revenue; cheer screenings often become popular though word of mouth on social media, and enthusiastic fans will often attend multiple cheer screenings for the same film.[3][4] The format is generally regarded as ill-suited for individuals who wish to concentrate on the film or avoid spoilers; consequently, cheer screenings are typically marketed towards individuals who have already seen the film in question.[3]

The proliferation of cheer screenings has occasionally lagged behind public awareness of their existence; reports emerged of disgruntled individuals unwittingly purchasing tickets to cheer screenings of the 2019 live-action film Avengers: Endgame,[22] while a cheer screening of the 2015 anime film Love Live! The School Idol Movie was cancelled after being deemed a nuisance.[23]

See also

References
  1. "「M@STERPIECE」の感動を45万人が共有！アニメ「アイドルマスター」の新たな展開". Movie Walker (in Japanese). 11 April 2014. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. "『アイドルマスター SideM』、初の地上波特番発表も! 「THE IDOLM@STER SideM 1st STAGE ～ST@RTING!～」上映会初日舞台挨拶". MyNavi News (in Japanese). 7 June 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. "『シン・ゴジラ』で開催した「発声型上映」　固定観念を覆す"映画の楽しみ方"". Oricon News (in Japanese). 19 September 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. "あなたはアリ？声を出して映画を観る"応援上映"、増えるトラブル". Dmenu Movie. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  5. "発声上映について". Akihabara Film Festival (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. "増え続ける応援上映、そのマナーとは？". Lmaga.jp (in Japanese). 24 October 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  7. "ライブさながらの盛り上がりに大興奮!? 『HiGH&LOW THE MOVIE』応援上映". MyNavi News (in Japanese). 15 September 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  8. "映画館はライブを越える音楽体験を生み出せるか？　"ライブスタイル上映"のリスクと革新性". Real Sound (in Japanese). 21 May 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  9. "映画館で大騒ぎできる新サービス登場！映画版『戦国BASARA』の「絶叫ナイト」で劇場ホクホク". Nikkei Trendy (in Japanese). 9 August 2011.
  10. "映画の応援上映　初心者が楽しむためにはペンライトは必需品". News Post Seven (in Japanese). 7 November 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  11. "New movie showings give audiences chance to cheer, sing along". Mainichi Shimbun. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  12. "キンプリ：異例のロングランで興収5億円、動員30万人突破　"応援上映"が話題に". Mantan Web (in Japanese). 27 April 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. "キンプリ「応援上映」にOLたちがなぜ熱狂するのか". News Post Seven (in Japanese). 18 June 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  14. "劇場版『KING OF PRISM』監督、キャラ原案＆デザイン……制作スタッフ陣のアツすぎる想い、みんなに届け！". Animate Times (in Japanese). 26 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. Zaid, A'bidah (9 September 2020). "Japan's Cheering Cinemas Goes Silent, Turns To Text Messages". Geek Culture. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  16. "「叫ばない応援上映」TOHOシネマズ池袋で9月開催　スマホで送った言葉が弾幕に". IT Media (in Japanese). 8 September 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  17. "参加型映画の元祖「ロッキー・ホラー・ショー」上映、映画館がパーティ会場に". Natalie (in Japanese). 13 April 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  18. Brown, Lane (20 August 2008). "Universal Unleashes 'Mamma Mia!: The Sing-Along Edition' on Unsuspecting World". Vulture. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  19. Alexander, Bryan (22 January 2014). "Sing-along 'Frozen' coming to theaters". USA Today. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  20. "Promare Cheer Screening". Anime Frontier. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  21. Morrissy, Kim (21 January 2020). "Fans Went Wild at Promare: Live Inferno Cheer Screening, Live Music Event". Anime News Network. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  22. K, Ben (17 May 2019). "Cheering stifled at 'Cheering Format' screenings of 'Avengers: End Game' in Japan". Japan Today. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  23. "『ラブライブ！』応援上映で迷惑行為　急きょ中止に". Cinema Today (in Japanese). 21 June 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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