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Spectatorship in the cinema refers to the relationship between a film (its content, and how this content is portrayed), and the film's viewer (or spectator). The use of the term 'relationship' in cinematic spectatorship applies to the way a spectator acts in response to the content they see in the film. Filmmakers, when creating a film, are often looking for a specific response from their audience. For instance, the director of a horror film, such …

…as An Affair to Remember), and uses devices that draw people into the story, such as music, well known locations (for instance, the Empire State Building in New York), likeable characters and well-known actors. Ultimately, these devices attract the demographic that a movie like "Sleepless in Seattle" is made for, fans of romantic comedy, but they are not likely to elicit the same response from a person who is more a fan of action films.