Chapter 3 Research Method
3.3 Data Collection Tools .1 Document Analysis
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Comprehensively, case study is the kind of strategy to apply for researches which examining a contemporary phenomenon, a special individual, group, etc. especially when the boundaries are not clearly evident. Also, it is the approach that has the potential to deal with simple through complex situations(Baxter & Jack, 2008). Since the relation between city marketing and filmmaking is still under discussion, and most of the literatures and city authorities are focusing on the relations between film tourism, destination promotion and city marketing, it is necessary to use data collection tools to analyze the critical strategies that the Taichung City Government used in the case “Life of Pi”.
3.3 Data Collection Tools
3.3.1 Document AnalysisDocument analysis is a systematic procedure for reviewing or evaluating documents—both printed and electronic (computer-based and internet-transmitted) material(Bowen, 2009). It is the strategy to collect and review documents include government reports, journals, thesis, news reports etc, in order to comprehensively understand the research question correctly based on the research objectives( 鄭 淑 文 , 2006). That is to say, documents are interpreted by the researchers to offer the meanings toward the research objective or topic.
In this research, it would be necessary to implement document analysis as an important method because although I am a personnel working in the Information Bureau of Taichung City Government, I am not taking part in the period when the film “Life of Pi” was produced in Taichung. And by examining and interpreting the documentary about “Life of Pi”, it would provide a clearer picture to how and what the city authority has done to help this film production group. And to get a closer look to why the city authority wanted to help. Besides, by applying document analysis, it would be easy to see how the city marketing effects and outcomes after the movie premiere globally. In short, it will provide a fairly comprehensive
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research outcome by using document analysis to figure out the basic strategies and effects of the city authority in this case “Life of Pi.”
3.3.2 In-Depth Interview
In-depth interview is one of the methods of data collection used in qualitative research in which the researcher asks open-ended questions. It can be used for variety of purposes, including needs assessment, program refinement, issue identification, and strategic planning(Guion, Diehl, & McDonald, 2011; Legard, Keegan, & Ward, 2003).
In the case of “Life of Pi”, a Hollywood-produced film like this was generally supposed to film in Hollywood under the professional techniques, finance and environmental supporting surroundings. But why would they determined to bring so many crew members, take about 13 hours flight and stay in an unknown country/city for almost half a year? Taiwan and the city of Taichung must have done something to lead these happened. Besides, when Ang Lee and “Life of Pi” filmed in Taichung and after filming, what did the city government do to ensure there are positive connections between the city image and the film in order to reach the city marketing goal? The answers of these questions should be further discussed by interviewing the decision makers or people involved of both sides. By adapting in-depth interview, the informants could fully express their opinions and determinations toward this case.
The reason why this research chose to adapt the method of in-depth interview as the main research method is because “Life of Pi” is a unique case in terms of filmmaking in Taiwan, it not only brought great influences to the audiovisual industry but also been as the most powerful helper to market the city internationally for Taichung City Government. Hence, by interviewing the stakeholders, this research will then obtain the most detailed and plentiful qualitative information. Combine and compare these information with the relevant document of “Life of Pi”, this research will hopefully provide a more integrated and comprehensive
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perspective and also collect the critical strategies of filmmaking in city marketing.
3.3.2.1 Informants
As this research mainly adapted the interview approach, and chose the decision makers or people involved in the film “Life of Pi” to analyze the critical city marketing strategies by filmmaking, it means that the relative information will be obtained by specific and representative people or event which may not be perceived by other sampling survey. Hence, the principle to pick informants of this research is to choose the core members involved in
“Life of Pi”. And it will be even better if the informants are the decision makers, especially for the city governments’ side because this research aims at analyzing the critical strategies in city marketing of the government.
The informants could be separated into two parts, one is the people who work for the Taichung City Government and the other is the members from the film crew. This research has interviewed the representative people who are involved in the case “Life of Pi” when it was filming in Taichung City, and it included 5 informants. All of the informants are deeply involved in the film “Life of Pi”, both in the production and marketing stage. The information from the informants is listed as below:
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Informant Professional Title Organization Jean Shih Director David Lee, but the content he addressed has been discussed with Ang Lee.)Ruan Pei-Fen Former Correspondent Taiwan Times
3.3.2.2 Designed Questions for Interview
The questions for the interview will be separated into three stages: the pre-production period of “Life of Pi”, the production period, and the post-production period. Under the concept of the raised questions, this research will take “Life of Pi” as a full package, not only focusing on the after-screen-period in terms of city marketing, but also the time before production and during production. All the questions are focusing on the strategies and approaches that Taichung City Government took to cooperate with or link the image to “Life of Pi” to bring positive effects in city marketing. The outline of the designed questions for the informants will be as below:
1. Why did “Life of Pi” choose to film in the city of Taichung?
2. What did Taichung City Government do or what are the niches of Taichung that brought the crew from Hollywood here?
3. During the film production period in Taichung City, what kind of supports did the City Government offer? Is there anyone that impressed you the most?
4. Do you think the filming experiences or the environment in Taichung will bring you or the crew members come back again in the future if possible?
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5. After filming, did Taichung City Government still keep in touch with the film crew and arrange some relevant marketing activities? What are they?
6. Why the Director Ang Lee brought Taichung City’s name as the special thanks while he won the Oscar Award?
In order to maintain the authenticity of all the answers and opinions from the informants, I will not translate all the scripts into English version, but will combine the findings and descriptions with the analyzed documents to sort out the critical strategies and hence bring the comprehensive perspective towards city marketing by the filmmaking approach.
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