Audience Research and Profiling

Below is a description of the typical person who represents the marketability of the film. His hobbies, interests and pursuits are all linked in some way to the genre I have chosen: thriller, action and of course horror.

· BBFC rating of 15.

· 15 to 50 year olds.

· Both genders

· Old teens and young adults.

· Horror lovers and horror film enthusiasts.

TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE

This is John. He is 18 and is currently studying A levels in Psychology, Law, Media and Maths. On the completion of his A levels, John hopes to go on to University and study Law and one day hopes to be a barrister. He has an interest in Law and crime. This is also due to the fact that his Dad is a security guard at a prison who deals with criminal and thieves daily.

John is very active and enjoys sport. His hobbies include going to the gym, swimming and playing football with peers who are the same age as him. John also enjoys going to parties as he likes to spend time with his peers and likes to socialise. He also enjoys spending time with his family and friends by watching movies together at the cinema. He frequently watches films at the cinema with his peers and has a particular interest in the action and thriller genre. This is due to influences such as his family's occupation and his particular interest and studies.

John enjoys spending time with his family and is interested in the stories that his father relates about work as a prison officer. As John and his father are both interested in crime, they regularly watch crime shows together. They also have an interest in TV drama and the crime genre and therefore like to work out who the criminal is without many clues before it is revealed to them.

John is intellectual and is getting high grades in his current subjects that he is studying. He also likes to know what current world events are happening, economically, politically and socially.

As a student who doesn't have a lot of money and doesn't currently have an occupational job, John would fit into the DE social class category. Above is a table from the BFI statistical yearbook 2012 and shows the films with an above average DE audience share. From this, there are not many clues as to what sort of film would appeal to the DE social class.

 

From the table above, however, it is clear that there is a market for the crime, thriller, horror genre and it would appeal to the age group of 15-24 so this would also appeal to the typical person in the marketability of my film. As 127 hours is at the almmost top of the table with 57% of the audience being in the age of 15-24 shows that the marketability for this film is interested in the idea of partying. Also, it could suggest that this age group would also be interested in films such as the Inbetweeners movie because they might be able to relate to the characters more so than in other films, therefore increasing the interest in the film.

From this information, I can incorporate certain and ideas and themes that are popular in the films listed above into my own film. For example, I think the idea of scaring and using horror will really appeal to my target audience (15-24) as this age group is interested in films such as the inbetweeners movie which has this theme of having a good time throughout as many people enjoyed being frightened. Also, I can use the idea of the main characters being in the region of 15-24 years old as this would help the target audience to relate to the characters and the film more and are therefore more likely to watch the film.

In the target audience profile of John, the typical person who is likely to watch the film also enjoys socialising and going to parties themselves so are also more likely to be interested in watching a film that incorporates these themes.

Why is the audience important to us?

It’s important to get an idea of what my potential audience would like to see and what they do with their time, so I can advertise in the right places and not somewhere that they wouldn't see - like the newspaper. 16-24 year olds are the most common users of social networking sites, so it’s obvious that I would try to advertise my films on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Another clever marketing strategy I would be likely to use would be advertising on buses and billboards because it will emphasise on my film being an urban theme. Also a lot of college students and university students are likely to catch buses and be walking around cities and towns - with my film on display for all to see.

The best marketing strategy, arguably would be word of mouth as its quick but effective - as you tend to trust your friends and family as they have actually seen the films to judge whether it was good or not.