Audience Cinema Research

Age

People aged 15-24 had the highest proportion of admissions for cinema viewings in 2015. This means that we will try to aim our trailer at this age group as it means that our film would have a better chance at being viewed when it would come out at the cinema. As well as this 'comedies and action films appealed most to 15-24 year olds' with movies such as Godzilla and 22 Jump Street. This means that the genre that we have chosen fits this age group well and it will most likely attract their attention so they will be more likely to watch our film in cinemas. However, action films were the most popular genre among 25-34 year olds, with releases such as Edge of Tomorrow and Dracula Untold. This means that when creating our film trailer, we must be aware that teenagers/young adults are not the only age group that will be attracted to it. We may perhaps include older actors so that people aged 25-34 can also be drawn in by our film and relate to it so that they will be more inclined to watch it. 
The film that was most popular among 15-24 year olds was 22 Jump Street, which was a hybrid film including action, comedy, and crime. This is useful because it shows that action is a favoured genre among this age group. The film that was most popular among 25-34 year olds was The Wolf of Wall Street, which is not an action film. This shows that although action was the lead genre among this age group, they are still attracted to other genres. Therefore, we must make sure to make our film trailer unique and stand out so that our target audience would choose it over other genres.

Gender

Male viewers made up 53% of total cinema-goers in 2015, which means that since our film trailer will be aimed at males, we have a higher chance of our film being seen and favoured in cinemas. One of the most popular films viewed for males in 2015 was Fury. This is a primarily action film, which is evidence for the fact that males watch action films more than females, especially because the most viewed film for females was What We Did on Our Holiday, which is a comedy, drama film. Therefore there is a clear difference to what genres these two genders preference. This is the main reason why we will try our best to aim our film trailer to males by following the codes and conventions of action film trailers as best as we can. 

 Social group

Our target audience will mainly be included in the social group DE (Semi-skilled & unskilled manual occupations, Unemployed and lowest grade occupations) because they will most likely still be in education or be in basic jobs because of their ages. One of the most popular films among this category was Dracula Untold, which is another action genre film. This means that, again, we will aim our trailer to this social group because it will give us a better chance at attracting our target audience. However, there may also be a chance that some of our audience are in the C2 social group because we are trying to appeal to 25-34 year olds, who may have skilled jobs already.

Overall, this research tells us that our target audience should be males ages 15-34 in the DE social group because they are the viewers who favoured the action genre in cinemas in 2015 according to the BBFC. It also tells us that our trailer would be effective in cinemas because trailers are shown in cinemas alongside a film of a similar genre. This means that the audience watching the film will also find the trailers appealing. Therefore, our target audience would end up seeing our trailer in cinemas. However, we must also take into account that visiting the cinema is becoming less common, and the use of more illegal downloading and streaming is becoming more popular. Therefore, we are more likely to promote our trailer on social media platforms such as adverts and Youtube videos as well as in cinemas.

Sources:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-audiences-2015-11.pdf

http://www.ukgeographics.co.uk/blog/social-grade-a-b-c1-c2-d-e

Lighting Mood Board

It was very difficult for us to find what the different lighting within an action film connotes, however, from my research my partner and I were able to form a lighting mood board. It shows the different types of lighting that both we aim to create within our trailer. Our piece is very much 'Good vs Evil', which is where our lighting mood board comes into place. When we are shown our two main characters during the state of equilibrium, the lighting will be a lot, warmer and softer to create a serene  atmosphere. Having the difference in lighting will demonstrate 'Todorov's' theory and show the difference between the equilibrium and disruption. With the darker and harsher lighting, (which is shown below), this will highlight the disruption and create a contrast between scenes. However, my research also showed that this could be the other way around in other action films as there is not actually a set colour scheme, but a majority of my research showed the lighting to be this way around.

Within both mood boards you can see a clear pattern. In the first mood board, you can see that the lighting is either a natural yellow or a soft yellow colour. This indicates that the film in in a state of equilibrium, everything is calm. In addition, the second mood board is full of very deep colours, whereby, the lighting is either a cold blue or the background is black and the character is very shady looking. This type of lighting indicates that the narrative is in a state of disruption, full of problems.

The use of the blue and yellow lighting is known as either 'orange and teal' or 'teal and amber'

Furthermore, during our editing stages, we will be able to adjust the saturation and have any colour filters to then evoke different emotions from our audience members.

AUDIENCE PROFILE

The target audience for action films are primarily male. This is because they generally tend to involve violence, which stereo typically attracts a male audience. As well as this, teenagers are also a main target because of the fact that action films include a lot of combat, which would thrill the audience and cause excitement for young people as they tend to enjoy adrenaline rushes.

Our audience will most likely be either in secondary school, sixth form, college, university, or work. This means that they may live very busy lifestyles and may not have time to go to the cinema regularly and may lack money to spend on such luxuries. When they do decide to go to the cinema they will most likely go with friends who will also interested in the film, perhaps in a small group. This means that although the main target audience of action films are male teenagers, we should make sure to appeal to both the male and female genders so that they are able to watch the film as a group.

We have created an ideal audience member based on our friend Luke. We believe he is best suited for our target audience member based on demographic segmentation, which I have explored on another post.

NAME: Luke
GENDER: Male
AGE: 18

SOCIAL: Middle class
RACE: White
EDUCATION: Smart, average to high grades in class


Our ideal audience member would most likely go to see the movie with a group of male friends around the same age. The movie would most likely be released during a school break (Christmas/Easter/Summer holidays) so that he would have free time to go and see the movie with his friends. He also enjoys action films e.g. Taken and Captain America, which include a lot of stunts, fighting scenes, and interesting locations. His favourite TV shows include 'Arrow' and 'The Flash', which are action based television shows. His hobbies include going to the gym, playing video games, and going out with friends.

ACTION GENRE

Plot Ideas

These are some of the ideas that we came up with for our film trailer. We will need a basic plot to work from, so we will end up choosing from one of these ideas so we can express parts of the plot through the trailer.

BBFC Ratings Analysis

BBFC Ratings Analysis

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organisation, which is responsible for the classification of films in the UK. It was established in 1912 for films by a few members of the film industry who decided to manage their own censorship rather than have the government do it for them. They wanted to establish their own system of self-regulation. The BBFC began operating on the 1st of January 1913 under the legal basis of the Cinematography Act 1909; cinemas were required to have licences from local authorities under this act.

Just before the Second World War, cinema became a socially powerful mass-medium and was feared because of the potential effects of its use for propaganda e.g. the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Therefore, an unofficial system of political censorship was introduced by the BBFC for the Home Office of the UK. However, Hollywood films weren't treated as strictly because the BBFC assumed that audiences would recognise American cinema as representing a foreign culture so it wouldn't have a big effect. From the 1950s onwards, the BBFC focused more on depictions of sex and violence than political expression.

In 1984, the BBFC were given responsibility for classifying videos for hire or to buy and view at home as well as cinema. Home video and cinema are given the same certificate the majority of the time, however it can vary due to bonus features or extra content. In December 1986, the first video computer game was certified by the BBFC, however they do not have power over print media.

Here are the current certificates:

UNIVERSAL: Suitable for audiences of all ages to view. Use of infrequent mild bad language may be used ('damn' and 'hell'). There is no overt focus on sexual behaviours but characters may be seen kissing/cuddling and there may be undetailed references to sexual behaviour. Treatment must be appropriate for a young audience; works with this certificate will usually have a positive message and an overall tone of reassurance.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE: Suitable for general viewing but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Nothing should upset viewers ages eight and over. There may be mild bad language included in PG films ('shit' or 'son of a bitch'). Some films are given the PG certificate but aren't made with a young audience as their target. There is no direct focus or reference to illegal drug use and sexual behaviour. Parents should consider whether the content would upset younger or more sensitive children.

12A (CINEMA ONLY): No one under the age of 12 may see the film in the cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults taking a child to see a 12A film should consider whether it is suitable for that child. A cinema may lose its licence if an adult does not accompany a child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the cinema. Depending on the context in which it is used, strong language ('f***') may be used in 12A films. Sex may be briefly and discreetly portrayed and verbal sex references shouldn't go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers. Moderate but undetailed violence is allowed and some horror films are given the certificate. Dangerous behaviour (e.g. suicide or hanging) may be presented but not dewlled on or include detail in a manner for young people to be likely to copy.

12 (HOME ONLY): The 12 certificate is the same as the 12A, but the requirements apply outside of the cinema because accompanied viewing cannot be enforced in the home. The film can only be sold to people over the age of 12.

15: Only viewers aged 15 and over can view the films as they are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. there are no restrictions on the themes involved, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds. At 15, there is no limit for the amount of strong language used (e.g. 'f***') and there may be occasional uses of stronger terms (e.g. c***'). However, this is depending on the manner of which it is used, who is using the language, the frequency of the language, and any special contextual justification because continuous or aggressive use will not normally be passed at 15. A 15 rated film could include things such as strong language, strong violence, sexual nudity, drug taking etc. Any sexual activity or nudity presented will not be in great detail and there may also be a strong threat and horror, provided there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat.

18: No one under the age of 18 is allowed to view or purchase the film, as they are for adults only. No themes are prohibited at this rating because adults can choose their on entertainment as long as it is not potentially harmful or illegal. Therefore it is a possibility that viewers could be offended at the content. Some issues involved in a film given an 18 certificate are strong horror, strong blood and gore, very strong violence, and strong portrayals of sexual activity. There is no limit or constraints on strong language, strong violence, horror, and nudity. Although drug taking may be shown, the work must not promote or encourage drug misuse. These themes may be shown, however, there is still potential for dangerous or criminal behaviour to be cut (e.g. explicit images of sexual activity that cannot be justified by context or behaviour which poses a great risk if copied). Sex works (only material which may be simulated) are generally passed at 18.

RESTRICTED 18: A legally-restricted category, used for explicit sex works or strong fetish material involving adults. Films with this certificate may only be shown in cinemas with special licences, and video works may only be supplied to adults in licensed sex shops. R18 videos may not be supplied by mail order.

For our action trailer, we have decided to chose the certificate 15. This is because we are using teenagers in our trailer and so we want our audience to connect with our cast. We also want to include violence and are considering including strong language, which fit the 15 category and do not fit the 12 certificate.

Sources: 

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/