At first glance, it looks like any high-end cinema: booming surround sound, a razor-sharp 4K projector and rows of reclining seats. But instead of clutching popcorn, a headset records my brain activity and a heart rate monitor wraps around my arm while infra-red cameras capture every blink and fidget.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sitting in a one-of-a-kind cinema at the University of Bristol<\/a> where researchers are studying how people respond to what they see on screen. By combining viewers\u2019 physical reactions with verbal feedback on the parts of the film they found most compelling, the team hopes to understand which moments truly grip attention \u2013 and whether that insight could help film-makers create better movies and take greater creative risks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a cinema, but for me it\u2019s also a research lab where the technology is turned on the audience to understand at what points are they completely immersed,\u201d said Prof Iain Gilchrist, a neuropsychologist at the University of Bristol<\/a>, who is leading the project.<\/p>\n Audience members are wired up to sensors measuring brain activity and heart rate, while infrared cameras track where they are looking and whether they are fidgeting. The researchers are less interested in individual biometric responses than in pinpointing the moments when those signals become most synchronised \u2013 a sign that audiences are highly engaged with what is unfolding on screen.<\/p>\n The Guardian\u2019s Linda Geddes has a heart monitor fitted to her arm by one of the project team. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cThe data we are collecting here will allow us to understand how the audience\u2019s understanding of the story is shaped by particular scenes and inform decisions about the most impactful edit,\u201d Gilchrist said.<\/p>\n This week, audiences were invited into the cinema for the first time to have their reactions measured while watching Reno, a short science-fiction film that explores humanity\u2019s relationship with artificial intelligence. Different groups were shown alternative cuts of the same movie, and the findings will be used to help its director, Rob Hifle, refine the final edit.<\/p>\n Hifle said the experiment would be invaluable in helping him understand how viewers were responding to the film, particularly as one version significantly reduced the screen time of a central character. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be really interesting to see how the audience engages with the characters, and whether I\u2019ve got the story beats in the right place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said he was not anticipating major changes, but that \u201csome of what emerges may be things I hadn\u2019t even conceived of, which is exciting, because it could determine how I change the cut.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not treating this as a paint-by-numbers thing. It\u2019s about using the data to help the film resonate better with the audience. Normally, when you\u2019re editing a film it\u2019s just you and the editor. But it\u2019s essential to get more data to see if it sinks or swims.\u201d<\/p>\n Film director Rob Hifle: \u2018What emerges could determine how I change the cut.\u2019 Photograph: Adrian Sherratt\/The Guardian<\/p>\n In this case, he chose to use audience testing towards the end of the process, but said it could also prove valuable at the conceptual stage. \u201cI can only see this technology proliferating throughout the industry, because everything relies on audience data now, whether it\u2019s a product or a film.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Prof Amanda Lotz at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, who specialises in the television and streaming industries, questioned whether such tools could solve the industry\u2019s real challenge. In today\u2019s highly fragmented media landscape, she said, success often depended less on trying to engineer something with universal appeal and more on identifying and reaching the right audience.<\/p>\n \u201cSeparate from whether a cross-section of individuals react the same way, media users come to it for different reasons. What you select to relax is likely different from when you want something intense or challenging, or when you are watching with family.\u201d<\/p>\n There was also a tension between using audience reaction data to optimise content and creating genuinely original storytelling, she said. \u201cOriginal storytelling prioritises craft and story, not a formula of \u201850% of tested audience members want X\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Technicians monitoring the audience experience in the projector room. Photograph: Adrian Sherratt\/The Guardian<\/p>\n