Summary Report on the 2013 Senior Film Project Screening Audience Survey
John Paul the Great Catholic University
Introduction
At the Senior Film Project Screening on September 5, 2013, a three question survey was
distributed to the audience after the film projects had been screened. Audience members were
asked to complete the survey during the question and answer session and return the completed
surveys as they left. A total of 110 completed surveys were collected. Between 250-300 people
attended the film screening. The survey questions are given below:
1. What moment in tonight's films was the most memorable for you personally?
2. Someone has said that one job of art is to “comfort the troubled, and trouble the comfortable.”
If there was a moment in one of tonight's films that either comforted or prodded you in some
way that you consider valuable, what was it?
3. Please rate the degree to which you found that moment to be valuable for you personally.
a tiny bit helpful
potentially life-changing
N/A
1.............2.............3............4............5............6............7.............8.............9.............10
The purpose of the survey was to gather data about the impact of the film projects in order to
determine how well they achieve the university mission of “Impacting Culture for Christ.” Data
from the survey will also be used to develop and refine other methods of measuring cultural
impact.
Responses
The following table summarizes the responses by film project.
Film Project
Paper Dragons
The Visitor
Bandit
Frohe Ostern
Project Callisto
Nature of the Beast
Sweet Tea
Other (no specific film)
Table 1: Data by Film Project
Number of People who
% of People who
Mentioned
Mentioned
13
12%
12
11%
6
5%
30
27%
7
6%
63
57%
55
50%
20
18%
Average Value
Scale (Q3)
7.0
6.2
5.0
6.6
5.0
7.0
6.4
7.4
Table 1 shows that most respondents wrote about “Nature of the Beast” and “Sweet Tea,” which
were mentioned by 57% and 50% of the respondents, respectively. (Note: Most respondents
wrote about more than one film, so the totals in Table 1 are greater than 100%.)
1 Table 1 also shows the average values from Question 3 for each film. The overall average from
all responses was 6.7. The films that received the highest ratings from Question 3 were “Paper
Dragons” and “Nature of the Beast.” Comments that did not pertain to any specific film also had
high ratings. Based on this data, and the comments accompanying the ratings, it seems that some
audience members used Question 3 as more of an overall rating of the film or event rather than
as intended. Therefore, the data should not be used to form conclusions about the impact of the
films.
Table 2 summarizes the types of comments received for Question 2.
Table 2: Types of Reponses to Question 2
Number of Responses
Film Project
Comforted
Troubled
Paper Dragons
4
The Visitor
5
1
Bandit
3
Frohe Ostern
4
13
Project Callisto
1
Nature of the Beast
33
5
Sweet Tea
27
1
Other (no specific film)
7
1
Total
84
21
Table 2 shows that overall, audience members felt comforted by the films they saw. Some
respondents stated that a particular film both troubled and comforted them. The most troubling
film was “Frohe Ostern” while the most comforting films were “Nature of the Beast” and “Sweet
Tea.”
In order to further categorize the responses received, a set of response codes was compiled. Each
comment was assigned one response code. Table 3 lists all the response codes used along with a
description of the code.
2 Code
AT
CG
EC
HP
HR
LO
MC
OT
OV
PE
SE
SH
SU
Table 3: Response Codes
Description
impressed by/commenting on artistic talent
saw elements of conversion and grace, the working of God in our lives
film caused viewer to think about the effects of culture or society on an individual and
how they choose to act
happiness, hope, or joy even in the midst of pain and suffering
film caused viewer to think about human relationships, how we overcome barriers to
relate to each other
film showed what it means to love or sacrifice
film encouraged viewer to make a change
other comments
viewer enjoyed the overall film/event
related to the viewer's own personal experience
simply entertaining, brought laughter
shocked
viewer was surprised/moment of surprise in the film
Table 4 shows the number of comments by type for each film using the response codes from
Table 3.
Table 4: Comments by Type for Each Film Project
Film
AT CG EC HP HR LO MC OT OV PE SE SH SU
Paper Dragons
6
6
1
The Visitor
6
3
1
1
2
Bandit
3
1
1
1
Frohe Ostern
14
1
4
3
1 12
Project Callisto
3
1
3
Nature of the Beast
1
39
1
1
4
1
26
1
2
1
Sweet Tea
9
7
27
1
17
8
1
5
Other (no specific film)
1
1
2
4
19
1
Total
19 40 15
5
23 28
5
7
75 10 3 15 9
As shown in Table 4, the OV (overall film) comment type was the most popular, both in the
number of comments and the number of films with comments in that category.
The next most popular comment code was CG, which was used to classify 39 comments for
“Nature of the Beast.” This shows that a majority of the respondents who commented on this
film saw the theme of conversion and grace. This was the intended purpose of the film, so these
results show that the purpose was achieved.
A large number of comments were also classified in the LO (meaning of love and sacrifice)
category. Most of these comments were on the film “Sweet Tea.” Just as for “Nature of the
3 Beast,” this shows that respondents recognized the intended theme of the film. Therefore,
“Sweet Tea” was also able to achieve its purpose.
Finally, the category dealing with human relationships (HR) also received a large number of
comments. However, in this category the comments were scattered across different films. In
every film except for “Paper Dragons,” at least one respondent commented on an aspect of
human relationships they saw portrayed. In “The Visitor” it was about interfaith communication
and our common humanity. In “Bandit” one respondent saw the connection between two
wounded people. Some of the responses to “Frohe Ostern” showed a reflection on how human
beings can become enemies, and then recognize humanity through that. One respondent
commented on the development of new understanding in “Project Callisto.” In “Nature of the
Beast,” respondents recognized the importance of the relationship between Mike and his friend
who invited him into his home and back to a relationship with God. “Sweet Tea” explored
family relationships, which many respondents also related to personally. Even though this
category (HR) was portrayed differently in all the films, it was still present in each of these
diverse projects. This shows that it is an important aspect to consider no matter what the subject
material or theme of a particular film project.
Selected Comments on Each Film
Three comments were chosen from the responses for each film that represent the range of
responses. These responses are given below. Further details and additional data are available
from Clare Oven, Institutional Research.
Paper Dragons
“The Paper Dragons trailer (whatever). I want to see it.”
“The skill of Paper Dragons is mind blowing”
“The animation was so amazing. It brought me back to childhood.”
The Visitor
[Memorable moment:] “When the little girl gave Santa her bear.”
“Christmas in a Jewish home. We are all God's kin.”
“The Visitor. The Christmas Eve with Santa visiting during the night to a Jewish home but they
ended up finding common ground.”
Bandit
“I really liked the movie Bandit. I thought that even though the girl was broken-hearted she was
able to give happiness to everyone around her.”
“The humor of Bandit during a sad moment made light of troubling times.”
“Bandit was adorable. The kind hearted personality of the bandit was so powerful and innocent,
it made the viewer (me) want to be like that. She became my hero just like the original bandit
was for her.”
Frohe Ostern
“Frohe Ostern - reminded me of those stories my dad would tell about his WWII experience. He
said he was shocked when he faced his first German soldier face to face. He thought he'd have
4 horns coming out of his head. He couldn't believe he was just a kid like himself. That moment
was communicated in this movie. The realization that taking another person's life was wrong.”
“Frohe Ostern - that good people can get caught up in a horror not of their own making due
solely to the time and place of their birth.”
“I think the moment in Frohe Ostern when the German and the American stare and for a
moment, understand each other. They are not enemies, they are just on the wrong sides.”
Project Callisto
“Special effects for the space one were impressive.”
“Project Callisto was exciting. I love sci-fi so I loved the setting & the monsters. The suspense is
forcing my imagination into hyperdrive. You did it so well, I probably won't sleep tonight.”
“Score on SiFi film quite good. Directing in the last scene was great - captured the creepy
feeling, unease.”
Nature of the Beast
“Nature of the Beast film struck a chord with me as I attended last week the funeral of a 20-yearold former student who fell into drugs; I'm so saddened she wasn't able to experience the healing
Mike did.”
“From Nature of the Beast, seeing that God can use & make NEW even the most broken
people.”
“The story of Nature of the Beast was very powerful. I am not religious at all but the film was
very moving.”
Sweet Tea
“The moment when the girl in Sweet Tea makes the decision to stay home and be with her
family instead of going to the school of her choice.”
“Sweet Tea - there was the moment when the girl came out to be with her father to offer him tea
and comfort him. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is be there for someone.”
“Sweet Tea: story comforted me - knowing that I am not alone in the troubles I face - and
troubled me - in bringing that pain to the surface.”
Other
“All films were amazing and each prodded or comforted me in different ways”
“The depth, intensity & quality of the films & actors. I felt very passionate, moved, happy, all of
the emotions you were hoping to strike in your viewer. Also so proud to have Christ present in
the films.”
“Hearing the students discuss the behind the scenes aspect of production was very compelling.”
“Some Comments - At the Q&A, it seems the teams were either very articulate and others were
timid, um-ing, and "too casual-speak." I suggest that the film itself is important but being able to
articulate well your job, your challenges, and your passion, they actually can "sell" your movie to
future investors or other stakeholders. Maybe practice this or offer a class on how important this
is.”
5 Reflections and Further Actions
After reviewing the results of the survey, faculty provided some comments and reflections. First,
faculty noted that it was encouraging to see that most audience members reacted in the way they
expected them to react. This confirmed their judgment about the films. Another key insight
faculty provided was that the film projects that had more faculty input received more positive
audience feedback. In the future, students should be encouraged to work closely with faculty in
order to create the best possible film project.
There are two main actions that should be taken to continue the work begun by this survey:
1. Faculty and students should be made aware that consistent faculty input and support may
have a major impact on the success of student film projects.
2. The results from this survey should be used to begin the development of a rubric to
measure the cultural impact of student film projects.
Report written by Clare Oven, Institutional Research Analyst, September 24, 2013. Updated
November 4, 2013.
6