Hobbit Audiences Sought for Their Views of Final Film

10 February 2015

Hobbit Audiences Sought for Their Views of Final Film

As the final instalment of Peter Jackson’s three-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit screens throughout cinemas nationwide, the University of Waikato’s Audience Research Unit (ARU) invites all those who have seen the movie to share their views.

“The post-viewing survey for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is now available online and is the third and final phase of our Hobbit Audience Project,” says ARU researcher, Dr Carolyn Michelle.

“We would love for all those who have seen the film to share their thoughts and reactions. We are particularly interested in capturing not only the views of fans, but also of those who might have quite critical perspectives on the film, for whatever reasons.”

The Hobbit Audience Project uses a unique mixed-method research design to explore the complex relationships between modes of reception of spectacular blockbusters and viewers’ cultural, linguistic, social and discursive affiliations.

“Once the project is complete, we hope to have compiled a unique data set tracing the evolution of audience responses to a spectacular blockbuster event film trilogy over time,” says Dr Michelle.

The post-viewing survey of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies can be found online at: http://flashq.rcc.ryerson.ca/Hobbit3/

Similarly, another team of researchers from across the globe have set up the World Hobbit Project, with the intention of gathering survey responses from those who have seen The Hobbit films.

“While this study is different to ours, the two are running in parallel and it will be interesting to compare the different methodologies used and the kinds of findings each is able to generate, once the results are published,” says Dr Michelle.

Find out more here: University of Waikato’s ARU Hobbit Audience Project.

© Scoop Media