Meeting and Defying
Director David Fincher gave a talk a couple of years ago that I attended, in which he shared a story about the release of his film Se7en. As a promotional tactic, the production company did a screening of the film shortly before its release. It wasn't widely publicized, but a poster was placed outside to drawn in people to watch the film. According to Fincher, the poster said something like this:
"Do you want to see Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy) and Brad Pitt (Legends of the Fall) in a new movie?"
If you've seen these three films, or at least familiar with their style, you understand that this poster was a terrible mismatch in terms of bringing in an audience. Needless to say, reactions to the film at this screening were incredibly poor. Fincher concluded his talk by saying that he felt it was important for an audience to have a rough idea of what they're getting themselves into before they go to see a film.
He's right, but at the same time, all of the movies, television shows, and music that has wowed me has been something akin to what I was expecting, but it blows my expectations out of the water. Early on, people told me to watch "Lost", and offered me a vague description of its premise. The summary was enough to pique my curiosity, but the show itself definitely surpassed any expectations I had before I started watching.
I think there's a lesson here, and it lies in setting up people's expectations, and then both simultaneously meeting and confounding them at the same time. Giving people exactly what you told them to expect is probably not enough to thrill them.
"Do you want to see Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy) and Brad Pitt (Legends of the Fall) in a new movie?"
If you've seen these three films, or at least familiar with their style, you understand that this poster was a terrible mismatch in terms of bringing in an audience. Needless to say, reactions to the film at this screening were incredibly poor. Fincher concluded his talk by saying that he felt it was important for an audience to have a rough idea of what they're getting themselves into before they go to see a film.
He's right, but at the same time, all of the movies, television shows, and music that has wowed me has been something akin to what I was expecting, but it blows my expectations out of the water. Early on, people told me to watch "Lost", and offered me a vague description of its premise. The summary was enough to pique my curiosity, but the show itself definitely surpassed any expectations I had before I started watching.
I think there's a lesson here, and it lies in setting up people's expectations, and then both simultaneously meeting and confounding them at the same time. Giving people exactly what you told them to expect is probably not enough to thrill them.