Research: Target Audience Research.
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Box Office performance for Horror Movies in 2014.
Rank No 1. Annabelle - $65,295,403 3rd October 2014. Rank No 2. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones - $32,462,372 3rd January 2014. Rank No 3. Deliver Us From Evil - $30,577,122 2nd July 2014. Rank No 4. Oculus - $27,695,246 11th April 2014. Rank No 5. Devils Due - $15,821,461 17th January 2014. |
What is the target audience for horror films?
- A horror films target audience is generally those in the age group 15-25. It is mostly aimed at men as they are more likely to be able to interact with the characters on screen. Women can interact with those on screen too but they would tend to react differently.
- The secondary audience is dating couples. This is more likely to be either very close but not married couples or first date couples.
- In the majority of horror films, the female character tends to be subjected to playing the weak and naive character, leaving to male to act as the hero. Therefore, this is why men may be more attracted to horror films than women, because they feel a position of power and dominance over the women characters.
- In terms of an age audience, most horror films are either age rated 15 or 18, so therefore this limits people that are under the age of 15 to watch a horror film.
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Focus Group (Interview Style)
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Name: Kathryn Harrison, 45.
I showed her 5 horror movie trailers (Oculus, Ouija, Annabelle, Deliver Us From Evil and Jessabelle) I then asked her multiple questions about each of the trailers, things such as: > Did you like the trailer? > Did the music used set a good mood for the trailer and the aim of the film? > What did you think of the lighting in the trailer? Was it too light/dark? Could it have been darker? > What is your opinion on having a female represented as a dominating role, rather than a stereotypical woman role, who is weak and powerless? Would you like to see a woman play the ruthless masculine role, or continue to conform to the stereotype of women playing the damsel in distress? |
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Names: Nathanael Craig (17) Beth Burrows (17) Becky Brunnock (17)
Like the above video, I asked the them similar questions about each horror trailer, and their individual thoughts about them. The video worked well in terms of finding out different opinions, as Nat doesn't like horror films, whereas Beth and Becky appeared to like them. Nat stated that horror films scared him and that he would not pay to go and see one at the cinema, whereas both Beth and Becky said that they would be willing to pay to see one at the cinema. However, Becky stated that she was not necessarily fond of some horror films because they are just silly and comedic rather than actually being scary, and therefore she does not get easily scared by horror films in general. Each of the participants, had very different opinions on the different trailers, for example, the film trailer 'Ouija', Nat thought was the scariest. whereas the girls said that they found it the least scary, so therefore this suggests that men and women have different perspectives on different horror movies and this is interesting and a good thing to look at when making a horror film. The trailer 'Annabelle' Beth said was 'really scary' and Nat said it was 'Weird' both similar opinions, but which do show that they were both perhaps scared. Nat didn't appear to like any of the film trailers, whereas Becky and Beth did like a few of them. I asked them what they thought of the role of a female in horror films, as usually women are displayed as a weak character, and they are likely to be killed, and the men are represented as the hero who will kill the bad guy and save the woman character. They all thought that it was a nice change to see the female acting as the heroine, but men play the role better. |