After we decided on a genre choice of ‘horror’ we needed to research into more detail about our audience. After completing my interview we now had more knowledge of what the audience expect from this type of genre but we now needed to see the type of viewer we are aiming for and who to target our film towards. We did this through finding out what age group through using other popular horror films viewing the certification on them to see which certification our film would be best suited to and answering and looking into various other questions.
How are other films in your chosen genre certified?
To find out this information we used http://www.imdb.com/ and looked at the top 10 most popular, recent horror films then looked to see the certification they were given. We chose to research the most recent films as this is the most up to date information we could gather as to what certification our film will be in order to see what age group we are aiming our film towards.
The Rite (2011) – 15
Let me in (2010) – 15
The Resident (2011) – 15
I spit on your grave (2010) – 18
Black Death (2010) – 15
Paranormal activity 2 (2010) – 15
Devil (2010) – 15
Hatchet 2 (2010) – 18
Piranha (2010) – 18
My soul to take (2010) – 18
From finding out this information it is clear that the most popular certification of recent horror films is 15. I feel this way there is a larger target market as we can aim our film towards younger teenagers as well as other target groups. In order to certify my film as a 15 rating I will have to ensure the content of the film is not too graphic and follows the certain guidelines to be a 15 rated film.
Who does your genre target?
The Horror Genre depending on the content, the typical killer and innocent girl is aimed towards young adults most typically males through the extreme use of male gaze theory, however horror films with a more in depth storyline can be aimed more towards an older more understanding population. The main target audience for a horror film is quite obviously horror film fans that seek to see the newest latest horror films. Horror films are more aimed towards groups c and below I feel as the content is quite violent and hard hitting. Also for obvious reasons a typical horror film with use of murder and violence will not be aimed towards young children below 15.
What Demographic groups are you going to target?
The demographic groups I will be targeting I feel is group’s c and below as I feel the content is graphic and usually violent. This helps me to decide where to advertise and how to advertise for example I would not advertise my horror film in a magazine about politics.
What audience theories may you apply to your film and its genre?
The hypodermic needle theory will apply to my genre and film and it will have a hard hitting effect, I can relate my film to real life which will scare and worry the audience, they will relate it to their life’s and therefore be scared leading in my film being a successful horror as the viewer of a horror film expects to be scared and worried. The aim for my film is to frighten my audience I want it to be talked about and be a film that the audience ‘couldn’t sleep for days’ by using the hypodermic needle theory I could achieve this and therefore create a successful popular film that fits well within the horror genre.
What hobbies might your audience member have?
Due to the type of audience and certain kind of people the film is aimed towards I feel the hobbies they undergo will differ from other audiences, for example for a politics film their hobbies will be more towards stereotypical higher class hobbies e.g. horse riding or hunting. For a horror film I feel the hobbies they will endure are such things as regular cinema visits, music gigs to watch their favourite bands and overall socializing with friends and family. Due to the images used for horror I feel they are aimed more towards a ‘gothic’ trend or ‘greebo’ as many horror films contain skulls and this symbolizes and contrasts with the clothes they wear so this shows the sort of gigs I believe they will go to ‘more heavy rock/metal’ so this also helps to see some certain magazines I will be best to advertise my film in.
What Rating would your film get in the UK
After looking at other film certifications we found that the average certification for a film of this genre is either 15 or 18. we feel the film cannot be a 12 or below as the content included is to graphic violence and threat. To decide whether the film will be an 18 or 15 we have to analyse the properties of our film and match them to the age rating criteria.
What other media works does this audience consume regularly?
I feel the type of audience our film is aimed at will watch television; they will watch comedy and horror programmes not intellectual programmes. They will listen to rock music through radio and via the Internet. They will listen to the most recent from rock/metal music genre, so this will tell me where to advertise my film to be most successful towards a certain target market for example to advertise in ‘hammer’ or ‘Kerrang’.
What comparable films has your average audience member seen?
I looked for the top 10 most popular horror films of all time as I feel the majority of my target market will have seen these films if they are fans of the horror genre
Top 10 horror films of all time
(Assuming the target audience would have seen the majority of these)
Psycho (1960)
Alien (1979)
The Shining (1980)
Les Diaboliques (1955)
The Thing (1982)
Tucker and Dale vs evil (2010)
The Exorcist (1973)
Nosteratv (1922)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Faust (1926)
Also with these my target market I feel will also have seen some of the films first listed for answer one as these are more recent, a horror genre fan may like new horror films but more recent ones not older ones, because as you can see above some of these films are over 80 years old.
Where would you average audience member shop for clothes?
As the genre is aimed towards the typical ‘greebo’ audience they will shop for clothes in places that sell that specific fashion sense, also the genre and film will be more aimed towards teenagers and younger adults another place they may buy clothing will be shops such as top man or river island as these are popular clothes shops for student clothing. Now that I have a wider understanding of where my audience purchase clothes from where I advertise will have a much bigger and more successful effect, I will advertise in shops that I feel my audience will shop in for example if my film was aimed at children I would not see much point in advertising in a garden centre.
In what magazines and websites would you advertise your film?
I have briefly described already where I would plan to advertise my film but now I shall go into further detail. As my target audience is split into both ‘greebo’ and
‘student’ the places where I advertise my film are of high importance. To start as my film is more aimed towards the male gender I will advertise in popular male magazines for example, nuts, loaded and car magazines. This will attract attention from the male gender towards my film. To attract the ‘greebo’ audience i will advertise in magazines in which are popular to that specific type of person so I will advertise in popular ‘greebo’ magazines such as ‘Kerrang’ or ‘hammer’. To attract my student population I feel the best way to achieve this will be to get an advertisement space on the famous website Facebook, this is used regularly by a large percentage of students.
In screenings for which films (in cinemas now) would you show your film's trailer?
After research I found that currently at this moment in time there is only one new horror film ‘John carpenters, the ward’ in cinemas so this is firstly where I would advertise my film. As there are no other films fitting my genre I will next choose the most popular films that are currently out and show my trailer for them as this will be the largest population to view it. So the films I will show my trailer at will be ‘How do you know’ and ‘Black swan’. There is a popular film recently released called ‘knomeo and julliet’ however this is aimed at a young audience and my trailer would not be shown before as the content will not be suitable for a young child.
By Alex Cockburn
No comments:
Post a Comment