2.1 Interpretative Paradigm

The case studies are based upon a constructivist paradigm, as an audience constructs their own individual interpretation of a film whilst they are viewing it. The movie's diegesis, its world, is largely constructed by the audience who has to make sense of the edits, gaps in time and changes in place that are typical of movie form. Schwandt (1997, 19) defines constructivism as "a philosophical perspective interested in the ways in which human beings individually and collectively interpret or construct the social and psychological world in specific linguistic, social, and historical contexts." He also identifies two major strands within constructivist thought, 'radical constructivism' and 'social constructivism'. The former strand is concerned with the individual and cognitive acts. Individual construction of a reality usually occurs without conscious thought. Without awareness of the constructive activity, the "reality comes to appear as given by an independently 'existing' world" (Von Glasersfeld, 38). Perception is also involved in construction. Humans perceive reality on their own terms, through their belief systems, or through their sensory receptors (Von Foerster, 1973, 46). Social constructivism is concerned with social interaction and cognition, and holds that reality (and belief system) is formed by society. This is important to this study, as audiences draw upon their accumulated experiences within a society to form a coherent understanding of a film.

Denzin and Lincoln (2000, 168) identify the ontology (dominant view of reality) of constructivism as relativism with local and specific constructed realities, its epistemology (model for developing knowledge within that view of reality) as transactional/subjectivist, created findings, and its methodology as hermeneutic/dialectic. There are multiple realities, and interpretation is relative and subjective. This applies to film audiences, where there are as many interpretations of a film as there are audience members, and the readings of each audience member are subjective and relative to their own life experiences. In a more practical research sense, Mertens (1998, 13-14) looks at constructivist data collection methods. She emphasises a personal, interactive mode of data collection, and cites interviews, observations, and document reviews as the predominant qualitative methods.