Blog 24

Christopher Caruso
Blog # 24

Below is one of the sections that I have possibly completed so far for my essay.  Any type of feedback on how this could be improved would be appreciated. 

Methods

            To collect the data that I needed, I felt that the only way this could be achieved was if I selected a story that was known for having both a literary and a cinematic adaptation, and study the experiences that people had while reading and viewing both formats of the story respectively in the form of a series of interviews.  This was conducted by looking specifically at both the movie and novelized versions of the story Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling.  I chose this particular story because it was the safest bet for gathering large amounts of information, because of how drastically large of an impact that the Harry Potter name has made on popular culture on a wide spread scale.  Considering how the case study centers on the tastes and opinions of the public, I felt that the best way to approach collecting my data was through the use of personal interviews.  Specifically, I interviewed individuals who were known to be extreme fans of the Harry Potter series because they are the most likely to be well knowledgeable of the story in both of its formats as opposed to just one over the other.  The volunteers during the interviews were asked a brief series of simplistic questions.  These questions included, but were not limited to; do the fans have a more enjoyable experience reading the novel or viewing the movie and why?  Is there a happy median between the enjoyments of the two medias?  Do the personal ways that the viewers and/or readers take in information play a role in how they enjoy the story in any way?

            In order to obtain the most accurate information about the opinions of the Harry Potter fan base at large, I felt the necessity to interview at least two Harry Potter fans.  Both interviews lasted approximately twenty minutes long each.  The first person that I interviewed, who I will refer to as M for the sake of confidentiality, was a Film major who attended Kean University; he was approximately twenty years of age.  The interview took place in person in the quiet comforts of M’s living room and was recorded with an old-fashion tape recorder.  The second person that I interviewed, who I will refer to as A, was an English Writing major who also attended Kean University.  The interview was not done in person, but rather through video chat online the social media network Skype.  This interview was also recorded with a tape recorder.