11th December - Audience Profile.

Any film created has to reach out to a broad audience to gain a larger following and popular reviews. A film which is already linked to its consumer’s interests is half of the effort to create a great film. Our film (like any film) is going to have its key target audience, but we are also going to offer our film to all different genders, ethnicities, age categories and so on to reach out to a broader audience to expand the viewing figures. Our genre currently would be a crime thriller which obviously has limitations to certain age groups and other aspects. So firstly our film has to be placed within the 'British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)' and we would place our film within the '15' category.  

 

This may seem very exclusive and to exclude the younger generation, yet without this rating we would have to change large amounts of our film to abide by these regulations, which would in turn exclude members of the older generation who would then see the film as aimed at younger members of the public. At least with this, the older generation would be more inclined to watch a film which is aimed at adults. So a minimum age of 15 to a generous age of 35 and over would be a target we would be aiming for.

As part of my research I thought I would question certain people, in different places and of different age groups. When I collected my results it became obvious to me that the majority of people that would be interested are from the male genre, linking the crime genre to films such as 'Snatch', 'Layer Cake' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' to name a few. Summarising the questionnaire results shows a 65% divide of the male gender, yet females are not to be excluded, and will be drawn in by the aspect of the thrilling genre. Social class were less obviously divided with people from all different parts of the spectrum, enjoying the film.

I also asked questions on what our potential audience would enjoy in our film and got a few responses back which interested me. Certain questions I asked included:

Asked to: Deborah Rose, 45, Female.

QUESTION: 'What makes you want to see a film?'

REPLY: 'Anything that makes you want to see more. If you don't know exactly what's going to happen it makes the whole experience a lot more fun! That's what you go to see a film for... for the enjoyment and the fun!' 

This has benefitted our audience research as we can summarise the above reply to creating further enigmas in our film. If we create a film where the viewers have no idea about certain events, or events that are going to take place then the experience will be more enjoyable. In our current film storyboard we have created the on-going enigma of what is placed in the briefcase. Other films that link to this enigma would be throughout the film ‘Dead Man's Shoe’s’ with the viewer not being able to distinguish that the main characters brother, has actually deceased and it is all on his imagination that he is there.

Perhaps I expected this response from any age, or gender. Whether the film is of any genre, where the audience feel compelled to watch more is a great success of any film. Any film has to be "enjoy(able)" and we have to mould the need to "make... (the audience) want to see more" around our genre.

Asked to: James Doyle, 23, Sheffield, Sales Assistant at HMV.

QUESTION : 'What are your favourite aspects to a film?'

REPLY: 'A film is not just based on the screenplay and the animation. It's a combination of the music, the freeflow of the editing that makes a film'

This has swayed our focus away from the just creating a great shot film and we have started to place more emphasis on the music throughout and the non-diagetic sound placed for sound effects and emphasis. We will also spend a larger time period editing to create an almost effortless movement between shots which will also add to this and how this reply has also suggested that a great film is the combination of the screenplay, music and editing.


This question was designed for somebody I knew would have more knowledge upon films in comparison to the average person. The interviewee on this occasion obviously has a key interest in films and technology as a whole to be able to gain a position and HMV, which has a large selection of films. A more detailed response is what I was expecting and his age is almost our perfect target audience. In general, more people around this age are more likely to be tech-savvy and more interested in the latest releases so to gain an insight from a member of the population of this age was extremely useful.

Throughout asking the questions I believed that if I became aware of who the people were I was questioning, by what brand of clothing they were wearing, certain foods they were eating and so on then I could wrought my results and final film to the viewer’s preferences. Many of the males I asked seemed to pay a lack of attention to what they were wearing and had an urban, rough look. One that caught my attention seemed to have ‘Monster Energy Drink®’, a very expensive energy drink showing the fast paced lifestyle that a crime thriller would link to. An example would be that in the chase scene with the quick shots.

Summarising my results would be that overall I can establish certain key factors that would help my final production. Focusing on popular public opinion is extremely important to us, because ultimately they will be watching our film in the future.  From what I have learnt our target audience would be between the age of 15-35, mainly focusing on the male genre but not excluding the female market. Yet I have established what sort of clothing and products our potential audience would be into I will not single out any possibilities to increase our fan base to gain the maximum amount of support from all social classes and so on. The questions I have asked have helped for me to gain an insight on how to improve our film to relate to the target audience. Linking to this will be understanding certain brands that are consumers are into including foods, drinks and also clothing. All of these will help our group to challenge our competitors in the potential market by giving our viewers what they want to see and love helping to draw them in further to our final production.