The cinematic moment: improving audience testing of movies

Whilst filmmakers intuitively believe that the movie experience must be emotionally engaging, audience testing continues to follow traditional approaches involving questionnaires and focus groups with insights mainly at the level of overall movie satisfaction. In this paper, we outline a theoretical framework for how the idea of the cinematic moment can support an improved test screening process for filmmakers, providing feedback for decisions about what narrative material is shown to the audience, what sequence it is to be ordered, and what emotional value it must carry. The paper also reveals the findings from the initial testing of the model using a commercially orientated 25-minute film in post-production, supported by interviews with industry practitioners.