Uses & gratification theory
Examples would be:
If someone was feeling happy they would tend to watch quite upbeat comedy genre type films, therefore there mood of happiness and laughter is kept flowing as the media is helping them engage their positive emotions and connections towards a film. As they always end positively, it keeps the smiles going throughout. When I'm in a happy mood i enjoy watching the 'Hangover' as it completes all the emotions i currently feel at that specific time of joys.
If someone was feeling sad or upset, romantic films are mostly watched, as a lot of deep connection and emotions have been portrayed through the characters towards the audience. simple things such a the soundtrack and settings can also effect the mood of that person. films i watch when I'm in a sad mood would be 'The Notebook' 'One Day' or 'Dear John.' These are all sad romantics which deeply engages the audience as people can relate to them. Also if the audience have experienced similar situations as types of films, the more the audience can feel for characters.
As some sad films are true life stories such as the 'Titanic' emotions flow intensely as the audience can express and apply feeling as it has actually taken place and situations as bad as that has happpend.
The media plays huge effects and helps us control our feelings, as most can relate to childhood memories about specific films that remind us of the young happy times. As everyone has different films they relate to, to gratify there needs, over thousands of films have been produced, and each of them has a set theme to create types of moods.