G321: Notes and Ideas on Audience

1. How are other films in your chosen genre certified? What are the top ten films in your genre certified as?

The majority of the films from our category are certified between 12A and 15.

Top 10:

Due Date- 15

No Strings Attached- 15

The Green Hornet- 12A

Red -12A

Love and Other Drugs- 15

Tangled- PG

Just Go With It- 12A

Never Let Me Go- 15

Blue Valentine- 15

2. Who does your genre target?
Our genre targets people in the age range 15+, it would be mainly aimed at females but could also be aimed at couples. It would mainly be for audiences who enjoy a feel good movie with a hint of romance.

3. What demographic groups are you going to target?
The demographic groups our genre would target are C1 through to E, which covers office workers, skilled workers, blue collar workers, students and pensioners.

4. What audience theories may you apply to your film and its genre?
We may apply the Hypodermic Needle theory to our film genre as the audience will just be fed the information without having to think deeply about it. Also, we may use the Uses and Gratification theory (McQuail 1987) by using characters and situations in which the audience can relate to.

5. What hobbies might your audience member have?

Our audience members are likely to enjoy shopping (as we are mainly targeting females), keeping fit, cooking, being around family and friends. They are also likely to enjoy a good social life. 

6. What rating would your film get in the UK?

We have decided to rate our film a 15 in the UK as it may contain implications of sexual activity/nudity. It may also feature language that may be too strong for a certification lower than a 15. Even though there won’t be any scenes featuring horror or violence, or any references to drugs, the film will encompass the main theme of relationships lending itself to strong language and sexual references.

7. What other media works does this audience consume regularly?

Our audience will consume a range of other media texts including magazines, websites, and musical artists. Magazines will mainly be based on fashion and lifestyle – perhaps keeping fit, improving your life and also cookery elements. They will mainly listen to mainstream artists – usually those in the charts. They are unlikely to listen to an unknown artist of a niche audience, instead preferring well-known bands that target a mass audience. They may also enjoy soaps on TV. and perhaps watch breakfast shows such as This Morning. 

8. What comparable media works does your average audience member like/dislike?

Other genres of film our audience member may enjoy are horrors and black comedy. They may however dislike psychological/ psychological thriller genres. They prefer works where the information is simply given to them without them having to think or process too much information. They may view rom-coms as 'easy-viewing'. 

9. What comparable films has your average audience member seen?

Our target audience are likely to have seen a variety of Romance and Comedy films perhaps including some of the most well known ones such as Bridget Jones (2001), Love Actually (2003), When Harry met Sally (1989) and  perhaps Four Wedding's and a Funeral (1994).

10. Where would your average audience member shop for clothes?

Its likely that our target audience (young females) would shop in fashionable stores but not necessarily designer stores because we are targeting those who are not necessarily well off and who are generally young or semi-professionals. They are likely to be up to date with the latest fashion trends and somewhat stylish idolising the lives of celebrities and film characters.

11. In what magazines and on what websites would you advertise your film?

To reach our target audience, we would most likely advertise in fashion magazines that advertise high-street style like LOOK magazine as opposed to mainstream designer focused magazines like Vogue. We could also advertise in magazines that discuss lifestyle and or home living and perhaps TV magazines as these are likely to be read by our target audience. Social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace are likely to be the best type of websites to advertise a Romantic-Comedy film on as these websites are currently very popular among young females of today.

12. At screenings for which films (in cinemas now) would you show your film's trailer?

We could show the trailer for our film at screenings of other Rom-com's such as Love and other Drugs (2011) or How do you Know? (2011). We could also show the trailer at screenings for Comedy films like Little Fockers (2011) or You Again (2011) because these are the types of films our target audience would go to see and we would therefore be able to reach our target audience.

Cath, Charley, Joanna