AUDIENCE RESEARCH 2

I have made another audience research into an opening sequence. I issued a questionnaire to 3 people who have recently watched James Bond: Casino Royale and the questions are regarding the opening sequence of the film and asking what they thought about it's relevance to the thriller genre.

Here is the outline of the interview:


Did you think it was a good film?


1) Yeah, it was a great film. I loved the action scenes and the whole story. It was so 'James Bond' if you know what I mean; the sophisticatedness, the classyness, the suspense, the action, the romance. They did everything right except one thing in my opinion. Ironically; James Bond himself. I don't think the actor portrayed they entire concept and legacy of James Bond well enough. But other than that, its good.

2) It was good but not the best film and definitely not the best James Bond film. As he said, there was a legacy that they had to pull off if they were gonna introduce a new actor and I think they didn't quite cut it to be honest. But I'm not saying that it was bad, I enjoyed the movie, but not an amazing one.

3) It wasn't that good of a film. In the end it was just mindless action that kind of got in the way of the story, not to mention that there was no believability in the film and that's what ruined it for me. I couldn't get to grips with the story because it was so uncanny, and I'm aware that every James Bond film is pretty much filled with action and cars and some more ridiculous stuff, but it was the way they told the story what made it conceivable. But hey, thats my opinion.


Did you think it was a good thriller?


1) Yeah, it was a damn good thriller in comparison with other thrillers. Thrillers like Seven or Body Of Lies are great because it was a lot of suspense and action and mystery and I believe Casino Royale truly achieved those aspects.

2) Basing my knowledge on other thrillers like Salt and The Bourne series, it was a pretty good. It had action, it had sexyness, it had drama, it had tension. It had all those things to keep that the viewer on the edge of their seats and I loved it. In terms of how Casino Royale did in reaching the goals that makes it a thriller, it did good and I proper enjoyed it.

3) Casino Royale did great in sustaining the conventions of a thriller but it missed out, in what I believe, a golden rule in what makes a thriller interesting - Believability. I'm sorry that I keep on banging on about this but thats what makes the thrill in thrillers, the fact that it could very well happen to you! Thrillers like Inception sure does seem to be out there but they had the explanations and science which makes it somewhat conceivable.


What do you think of the opening sequence?


1) Oh wow that was such an amazing opening sequence. Such mystery, such tension. That truly put me on the edge of my seat there. That was such a good chase scene that followed after that tracking segment of the scene. And man, that was a  great way to introduce the James Bond. Brilliant.

2) That was a great way to open a film, the amount of action that was cramped in that one sequence was awesome.

3) Two people running by a construction site making their way to a top of a crane and ending up destroying the place and making a series of explosions was ridiculous. So much so, I sorta laughed. And theres my point on conceivability. But really though, I loved watching it. But I felt detached rather than being indulged and thats why it should be believable.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Me and my group had conducted a questionnaire as part of the audience research in order for us to gain an insight for what our final piece could be. prior to this, we had discussed what type of thriller we want for our final piece and concluded that we would like it be a spy thriller. With this, I had constructed an interview with three people who had recently watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The questions are intended to support or choice for our final piece. We had chosen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as it was our main film for reference as it exercises many of the conventions we want to implement to our final piece. 

Here are some pictures of my group meeting regarding the audience research.

                                                                                                     

Here are the outlines of 3 interviews I have conducted with people who have watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. This articulates a spectrum of opinions on how good the film was regarding it's fulfillment as a thriller. This would serve as great support to our opening sequence as we could take into account the type of things we need to consider in order to satisfy our audience.


Did you think it was a good film? 

1: Overall, yeah, I've enjoyed the movie. It kept me guessing throughout the entire film because there was never any real hint of who the real mole was in 'the Circus'. Plus, it was really suspenseful and that was the best feature of the film. But, it was too slow and could do with a bit of pace.

2: In retrospect, the film was just way too slow. I know it was trying to make a lot of suspense and everything but the fact of how slow it was just got in the way of the storytelling and ultimately bored me.

3: The film was good; not great, not bad either, but I did like the movie. I just feel that the pace of the film hindered the narrative. But, it was a price to pay for the mass amounts of suspense it had. The story was definitely good and I understood what was going on surprising, but my only problem was how slow paced it was and how dull everything seemed.


Did you think it was a good thriller?

1: With that amount of suspense and mystery, definitely. It's not quite up there with thrillers such as Body of Lies or the Bourne trilogy, but considering the style and the story of the actual film, it is a really good film. But, even though thrillers tend to have suspense and stuff, I still think they overdone suspense because they kinda slipped into the boring side.

2: Aren't thrillers supposed to keep you on the edge of your seat? If it had been faster with its pace, it would be good, but to be honest it was not a great thriller.

3: It wasn't a good thriller in my opinion. But they did keep all the stuff you'd see in other thriller films like the Bourne trilogy, with all the mystery it had in it and the pursuits that had taken place in the story. Thrillers, in my experience, are movies that involve action and vibrant storytelling with also suspense and mystery. I just think that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy didn't quite  live up to the action and vibrant storytelling part.


What do you think of the opening sequence? 

1: Well, it was ridiculously long, but it did have some significance to the actual film which i gotta excuse for. Like when the he goes to the optician to get his glasses adjusted and when he went for a swim with his head above the water was all just a enforcement of his role as the observer. I get it, but honestly, it took too long to get into the plot.

2: Why did it take 30 mins to get anywhere in the film? Seriously I struggled to stay awake, it was stupidly boring and I really did hate it. There was no point for it.

3: I'm not entirely sure as to why the film took us through Smiley's boring routines and why it took that long for us to progress anywhere in the film. I guess all I needed was a little patience, but even-so, it didn't give any points to film with that opening sequence. It didn't have any suspense, or mystery and I'm not sure if it had anything to the do with the story as a whole. it wasn't a great start to the film. I think it was foreshadowing, or even warning, how slow the film actually was.