I came across this intelligent quote from John Mayer about how he looks at performing, and it got me thinking about filmmaking, and how audience expectations can impact a film-
That’s the thing about people knowing anything about you before you meet them - is that you have to work just to get people back to knowing nothing about you. - John Mayer
It could be because of a star, director, trailer, etc, or even just the fact that people see hundreds of hours of film and TV, and arrive at the cinema loaded with past experiences and the resulting baggage. There’s an urgent need to wipe their minds clear as quickly as possible, to make them forget whatever they think they know, and just get them really involved, really watching, thinking, feeling.
So many films fail hopelessly that this; the first ten minutes just make you more aware of yourself, of your expectations, and in no time you’re judging the film rather than getting involved.
When you leave a film that fails to manage and reset your expectations, all you can think about is how the movie compares to those expectations. That’s why, even when a film is partially successful, your mind is preoccupied with defining just what disappointed you.
When you leave a good film, all you should be thinking about is the content of the film, the story, the surprising experience that made you totally forget everything you thought you knew.
I chose an image from The Matrix for this post because I consider it an example of successfully, even cleverly, managing audience expectations. From the film’s oblique marketing, and through the brilliantly intriguing opening minutes of the story, it challenged you, so you were hungrily asking “what is this about?”; your were eager for answers, but you didn’t know what to expect, and the filmmakers could tell their story.
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