2. Primary Research 1
As part of my audience research I carried out two primary
research tasks the first one being interviewing a small
group of people (4 people) about their dislikes and likes
about the super hero genre, its storylines and characters. I
gathered my information for this research by asking a
series of questions which can be seen on the following
slides.
3. What do people expect to see in a
superhero film?
Villains
Superhero
Victim
Power
Capes
Pants over tights
Shining lights
A good story line
An intriguing story line that captures audiences attention
immediately
4. What do people like about
superhero films?
Lots of action
Interesting plot
Colourful
Excitement
Fun
Gripping stories
Tight costume
Mysterious
The fact that you can choose a side (good guys or bad
guys)
5. What do people dislike about
superhero films?
Sometimes they can be long winded
When there is no action in the film
Cheesy
Cliché
People die
6. Primary Research 2
As part of my audience research I carried out two primary
research tasks the second one being narrowing down the
group I spoke to down to 2 people. I focussed on
discussing specifically on real superhero films and what
they thought of them.
7. Spiderman
“It’s nice to see films such as this which bring to life the
comic books, I prefer to watch films that are real actors
rather than cartoons”.
Parts of the storyline are normal i.e. their school life
therefore as an audience member who is also I at school I
can relate to the stereotypical character types that you
would find a in real life schools for example, the chav, the
geek, the popular one etc.
I enjoy the fact that there are more than one storyline
going on – the “saving the world” storyline along with the
romantic one, like between Spiderman (peter) and Mary-
Jane
8. Batman
Films such as this portray well to the audience through
things such as the gadgets costumes etc.
Some of the settings i.e. the city make it more realistic
therefore more enjoyable
Action packed
I enjoy this film because of the actors/stars in it.
Costumes are creative and attract my interest.
9. Secondary research.
I believe that films such as The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, Batman, X-men
and Superman returns would have primarily being a success in attracting
its audiences due to the mass scale of the production. All of these films
have been distributed by big/well-known institutions (American or
Japanese).
Another attraction to films such as The Dark Knight are their big stars for
example at the time of its release the death of Heath Ledger (The Joker)
meant many fans were desperate to see his last completed film.
A lot of these films particularly batman, spider man and superman have
also previously been popular comic books therefore seeing them come to
life may be a big attraction for enthusiasts and young audiences;
potentially young adults who may have grown up reading these comic
books.
Also with big institutions comes big budgets there studios such as Warner
brothers and 20th century fox largely attract audiences as they know they
are going to be watching something spectacular with no expenses spared.
10. Secondary research.
Films such as The Dark Knight Rises may attract
similar audiences to the first one therefore teens,
young adults and potentially families. All of these
audiences may have been fans of the first film and
wish to go and watch this film to see if surpasses
the expectations of its predecessor.
I believe the majority of audiences will be male
potentially who are still in some form of education.
Other audiences may be simply enthusiasts of the
genre and the previous film.
The small percentage of audience members which
I believe to be female may be of a young age,
possibly still in school who also have been a fan of
the comic books and previous films.
The Amazing Spider Man may also have similar
target audiences potentially that are slightly
younger than the of The Dark Knight, I believe
these films are more family orientated therefore
likely to equally attract both genders.
11. Secondary research.
Listed below are some of the main points as to why “The Dark Knight Rises”, “The Avengers” and “The
Amazing Spider Man” will be successful in finding audiences. (Taken from “Long Distance Box Office:
Summer's Superhero Movies!” by Edward Douglas. February 13, 2012
The article states that The Dark Knight Rises has a HUGE advantage, being the sequel to a $533 million
grossing movie that really changed how moviegoers looked at superhero movies.
The fact that it changed peoples opinions on the genre is a big attraction for this film and audiences may
want to see if the sequel can do the same.
The avengers: hopes to prove the sum is greater than the parts by combining six characters from previous
summer blockbusters into one large scale epic that's been the culmination of years of planning.
The anticipation for this film will create a big hype prior to its release and will be one of the main reasons
why it will be successful in finding audiences.
The Avengers has a great advantage over the other two being the first movie of the summer which
means it can explode out of the gate and get everyone excited about the summer (and the other two
movies).
Being the first movie out means that it is likely to attract large audiences and possibly steal them away
from the other two films - if you have already seen one superhero film you may not wish to go and see
another in such a short space of time.
Obviously, one of the biggest selling point for "Avengers" is the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark-
-something that helped the two "Iron Man" movies gross $300 million domestically
The Dark Knight Rises is a slam dunk no-brainer if only for the fact that like with The Avengers, this is
about the return of a fan favourite, which is Christian Bale's Batman as directed by Christopher Nolan. In
this case, the anticipation for their return has built over the four years since
All three of the summer's superhero movies should open in over 4,000 theatres and have the benefit of
being in enhanced formats like IMAX.
This will have a major advantage for all three films as they will be shown in many cinemas across the
world therefore reach mass audiences. The enhanced formats such as IMAX may be a big attraction for
fans on the genre who want to see these films in the best possible ways.
12. Secondary research.
The stars and directors of a film particularly in the superhero
genre can be a major attraction and selling point for the
movies.
For example, British audiences in particular, are enticed by the
fact that they will be “seeing one of their own” on the big
screen.
With British stars such as Ciarán Hinds, Rhys Ifans, Tom
Hiddleston and Tom Hardy staring in Avengers, Spider-Man
and Ghost Rider, these films are set to be a big success
especially withing the UK.
However its not just british actors that are the big attraction.
Actors such as Heatn Ledger were a major attraction for The
Dark Knight. This was to be the stars last completed film
before his death shortly after, this was a major selling bpoint
and could have contributed to the big sucess opf the film – the
fact that this would give fans of the fanous actor their last
chance to see his last ever completed film.
But its not always about the actors, director can also have a
major influence on the success of a film
Director Christopher Nolan is a big attraction for audiences and
is one of the reasons why Man of Steel is likely to be a big
success.
Nolan is responsible for films such as inception, following and
the batman trilogy therefore audiences may wish to go and see
films such as Man of steel just to see if his latest work can
meet expectations of his previous films.
