Paper short abstract:

Based on participatory observation, the study explores the qualitative and quantitative analytical methods employed to construct audiences for the film industry in pursuit of human-centered innovation.

Paper long abstract:

Traditionally, the film industry relied on feedback from audiences during test screenings of completed films. Now, there's a shift toward involving the audience early on in the production process, aiming to incorporate more diverse opinions. Digital and computational methods are increasingly recognized as crucial in enabling this change.

This paper draws on an ethnographic study conducted at a Danish film consultancy that uses digital ethnography tools to analyse audience awareness for early-stage films. Through participant observation, the study delves into the consultancy's methods for determining which audiences are relevant, and how to curate their responses into actionable insights. This process inherently involves privileging certain 'versions' of the audience while marginalising others, thereby raising critical questions about whose voices are amplified and whose are suppressed in the quest for human-centered film production.

The study examines the methods developed by the consultancy firm, including mobile ethnography for engaging global audiences, automatic transcription for processing interviews, emotion detection algorithms applied to transcribed data, and generative AI in order to showcase different practices of constructing the audience for the movie production process.

This contribution aims to critically examine how specific versions of the audience are enacted in the pursuit of human-centered innovation in the European film industry.