I have asked Mr lewis the following questions as part of our audience research, here are his answers to the questions (in the comment):
1)Do you prefer action or more character/dialogue films?
2)Have you seen any of the Rocky films or slumdog millionaire, if so what do you like/dislike about them?
3)How do you like films to start, a slow build up or hard hitting from the start?
4)Where do you think titles should appear? Before, during or after the start?
1 Sometimes I enjoy an action film, but only if it has some character development. Generally, I prefer films that have believable characters that I'm interested in. A good script is more important than action, in my view.
ReplyDelete2 I've seen all of the Rocky films bar the most recent one. The first film is excellent because most of the film is about Balboa's character and relationships. After that, the plots and scripts become thinner and the films are more dependent on the fights. 'Mr T' was a formidable foe in the 3rd film and created some interest but the ideology in the 4th where it's America v The Soviet Union is very questionable.
3 The modern, Hollywood way, is to hit you hard from the start. That can be very effective but there is then the problem of maintaining the level of excitement that has been created. A more traditional way is to ease the audience into the film gently and then create a disruption. The second way seems more natural to me.
4 Titles can be distracting at times. I quite like them to be over by the start of the 'action', or appear during an establishing sequence. I have also seen films that start without any titles and then they appear once the opening scene is complete. This can work quite well.