Introduction Many films are loved because they are “good”, their aesthetic merits fulfill a specific role for the audience. The Room, directed by Tommy Wiseau, is a different story. The Room is often called “the Citizen Kane of bad movies”- it features wooden acting, cheap production values and a completely nonsensical script. It seemed as though this film would disappear, but soon after its release, The Room developed a strong cult following. Theaters would show the film at midnight to excited audiences, who soon developed a tradition of audience participation. Viewers often come in costumes of the characters, and constantly are shouting criticisms or responses to the ridiculous dialogue. Most notably, it is important for viewers to throw
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These questions asked about participants relationship with the film and audience participation. For example: “What, if any, audience participation activities do you engage in?” and “Do you enjoy the audience participation at public screenings of The Room? Why or why not?”. The ideal participant would be someone who has attended at least on public screening of The Room and engages in audience participation activities. This subject would provide the most accurate data for answering why people engage in audience participation behavior. The original intent was to attend a screening of The Room and find participants there. Monthly screenings occur at the Clay Theater in San Francisco, so it would not be hard to find subjects. Ultimately however, no one at the screening both fit the model for an ideal participant and was willing to be interviewed. Instead of physical interviews, virtual ones had to be conducted. A questionnaire was created from the eight questions, using the tool Google Forms. To find participants, the questionnaire was posted, with a brief explanation of the goals of the project, on the subreddit r/theroom, an online community where fans of The Room gather to post news articles and start discussions about the film. The subreddit has over 7,000 subscribers, so it was likely that some would
These questions asked about participants relationship with the film and audience participation. For example: “What, if any, audience participation activities do you engage in?” and “Do you enjoy the audience participation at public screenings of The Room? Why or why not?”. The ideal participant would be someone who has attended at least on public screening of The Room and engages in audience participation activities. This subject would provide the most accurate data for answering why people engage in audience participation behavior. The original intent was to attend a screening of The Room and find participants there. Monthly screenings occur at the Clay Theater in San Francisco, so it would not be hard to find subjects. Ultimately however, no one at the screening both fit the model for an ideal participant and was willing to be interviewed. Instead of physical interviews, virtual ones had to be conducted. A questionnaire was created from the eight questions, using the tool Google Forms. To find participants, the questionnaire was posted, with a brief explanation of the goals of the project, on the subreddit r/theroom, an online community where fans of The Room gather to post news articles and start discussions about the film. The subreddit has over 7,000 subscribers, so it was likely that some would