Comfort Viewings #5: One Screen at a Time

In our on-going series, Comfort Viewings, we ask filmmakers, fans, and writers to talk about what they're finding comfort in right now, while we live through a real-life horror film. The fourth one comes from award-winning producer Jennifer Handorf

We are surrounded by screens. They are, quite literally for many of us, our windows to the outside world. I imagine us in our personalized Rear Window (1954) experiences- held hostage in our own homes with nowhere left to direct our focus but these omnipresent monitors. Inside them, we find our work colleagues, our leaders, our families, and our fictional heroes. It’s understandably intense. So I don't think it at all strange that finding comfort in my screen is more difficult than normal. They are as likely a source of stress or anxiety as a place to retreat for calm. But boardgames, baking, and sunshine meditations can only do so much for those of us obsessed with cinema. 

So I have put some rules in place to redefine that comfort. The first and most important rule is one screen at a time. Unless I’m writing notes for work, I have disallowed myself the indulgence of double- (or even triple!) screening. I must admit this is a complete flip from my pre isolation approach. Before, comfort viewing was as passive and unstructured as possible. What I wanted was respite from the strict note taking procedures required when I am watching a film for work. So, anything I could ‘veg out’ to was speedily consumed. I’d binge entire series at the same time as smashing it in Candy Crush without needing or caring to take the time to engage with the characters, theme, or anything else of what played out in front of me. In fact, being distracted was what I found so comforting about those sessions. I enjoyed the stimulation of jumping between screens, and I didn’t need content that provided more depth than that. 

But now, these excess screens betray my sense of ease. If we touch or even look at our phones, we’re likely to be drawn into notifications or news clips. So, for the time being at least, I’m committed to being a one screen girl. If something is worth staring at for thirty minutes or more, it’s got to be worth staring at exclusively. This is the core of my second rule- I must give my active attention to what’s on the screen. Which is harder than I had expected. 

Whether it’s domestic responsibilities or the state of the world at large, there’s a lot on my mind, and it’s hard not to let the noise of that world worm its way into my brain space during a comfort watch. I must be relentless in building this focus, especially at the start. But, as with any kind of exercise, it has gotten easier over time. At first, I might have found myself rewinding to re-engage with a film two or three times. Now, my focus is easier to centre. What’s more, I seem to have reconnected with immersion more deeply than I had for several years. It turns out I hadn’t lost it; I had simply let the muscle atrophy through convenience. We have so many options for content, it’s easy to take it for granted and not engage. In fact, I’m furious at myself for half-arsing some past viewings- there are at least a few films or series that I didn’t enjoy as much as I should have because I didn’t give them my attention. (Large chunks of film school required viewing comes to mind, where scenes from films like Les Yeux Sans Visage, Eyes Without a Face, 1960, or Carnival of Souls, 1962, fade in and out of each other.) What’s worse, having binged my way through the good stuff, all I’m left with is Netflix Original Dregs. 

Which is why my final condition for a modern-day comfort watch is that it has to be good. Now, the definition of ‘good’ couldn't be broader here. It can be a cinematic masterpiece or a so-good-it’s-bad piece of trash, but it just can’t be ‘meh.’ One woman’s Love Island (2019-) is another’s Citizen Kane (1941), and that’s fine. And, honestly, more than anything else, this restriction is in place so that I honour myself and the effort I’m putting into these viewings. My mental energy is spread so thin lately, sitting down to watch something attentively is a real commitment. So I usually have a ten minute rule with content- I fully invest in it for ten minutes, but if it still isn’t doing it for me I move on to something else. Thankfully, there is no shortage of content in this online lockdown world. 

So, equipped with my rules of engagement, I shut my curtains and turn on my single screen. For now, I’ll sit down with Jean-Luc Picard and his crew to relax. Can you blame me? A reality in which a capable male leader takes genuine care of his people is one I find solace in. And now, giving the Enterprise (Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1987-1994) my full attention, I feel relaxed and, finally, comfortable. 

JENNIFER HANDORF began her film career at Columbia University, where she was presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with the prestigious Student Academy Award for contributions as a producer on POP FOUL. After receiving her Master's Degree from USC's Peter Stark Program and working at Fox's International Production devision, Jen produced several films, including BAFTA recognised FORNA, and Ben Wheatley's short film PRECINCT 13.  Her first two features, THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS and THE BORDERLANDS, were both critically acclaimed and she had three features released in 2017- THE CHAMBER, Disney remake THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS, and the long anticipate directorial debut by Alice Lowe, PREVENGE. Her latest release, NATIVE, a raw science fiction starring Rupert Graves and Ellie Kendrick, has just hit cinemas and she is currently in post production on LIE OF YOU, a thriller based on the best selling book by Jane Lythell. Jennifer is currently in development on two projects which she is directing. MONSTERS IN THE HOUSE is a documentary following the strange and wonderful competitors in the world's only tarantula beauty pageant, and THE CHANGE, a narrative feature with a horrifically dark take on menopause which is featured as part of this years Frontieres program at Cannes.

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