2. Primary Research One
I asked a group of 5 students questions
regarding their interest in Superhero films.
My focus group consisted of males and
females around the ages of 16-17, all with
different feelings about the genre;
resulting in a culmination of different
answers.
4. What do people expect to see in a
Superhero film?
In a Superhero film, people expect to see action,
fighting and extraordinary events that are highly
unrealistic. Romance is also expected, along
with explosions and a protagonist who
possesses unnatural powers and abilities. People
want to be entertained and expect an
unpredictable storyline, along with evil Villains
who wear fancy costumes.
5. What do people like about Superhero
films?
The main thing that people like about superhero
films is the fact that for an hour or two they can
escape their ordinary, normal lives and watch a
human who is just like themselves partake in
amazing battles.
Superhero films allow the viewers to become
immersed in the drama, see attractive actors
and actresses, and visit places that they would
want to visit- such as New York City- from the
comfort of their own homes.
6.
7. What about dislike about Superhero
films?
Superhero films often give the consumer a glimpse
of a life they will never be able to lead, and this is
frustrating for viewers. Realism is hardly ever an
aspect of films in the Superhero genre, which can
be a positive but also a negative. Furthermore,
Superhero films are also rather cheesy, due to the
fact the main protagonist and his love interest
always get together. A lack of humour and
predictable plot lines are also reasons why people
may dislike superhero films.
9. Primary Research 2
• Two people in my Focus Group specifically liked
the way the film Kick-Ass changed the
conventions of Superhero films.
• They found it refreshing having a main
protagonist who did not have any special powers
and a young girl who fought the Villains by
herself.
• However, they didn’t like the character in Iron
Man, finding him conceited and hard to relate to.
10. Secondary Research
1. Looking through the top fifteen films on Box Office
Mojo, the Spider-Man franchise appears thrice,
suggesting that Sony hit a winning streak with the tale
of Peter Parker, a schoolboy who gets powers from a
special spider. The target audience for the Spider-Man
films are teenagers and young adults, due to the PG-13
rating in America and themes of love, family problems
and being at high school. Distributed by Columbia
pictures, one of the leading film companies in the
world, Spiderman had the necessary marketing to push
it into global success.
11. Iron Man stands at number five in the table, and it is
clear to see why. With massive star appeal in the form
of Robert Downey Jr, Iron Man promised action,
romance and excitement in it’s trailer. Paramount, who
produced the film, have also been the name behind
massive blockbusters such as Mission Impossible and
saving Private Ryan- with such a big producer, there is a
lot of expectation for the film to succeed.
The Incredibles is different to the previous films in the
list, as the target audience for this film is mainly
younger children aged 5-13. It is actually the only
children's film in the Top 15, suggesting that there was
a substantial lack of children’s Superhero films to come
out- leaving families flocking to the cinemas to see
something new.
12.
13. 2. I believe that the main demographic for ‘The
Amazing Spider Man’ will be people who are fans of
the original film- so a mixture of men and women in
their 20’s to early 40’s. However, by bringing the
films to the attention of a new generation this will
bring a new bout of teenagers who were not old
enough to see the first three in cinemas, so who
will want to see this new instalment. The
psychographic factors include that ‘Mainstreamers’
may be persuaded by their friends, or they may be
attracted to the big name stars attached to the film-
in this case Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield.
14. Another film in the Upcoming Releases column on Box
Office Mojo is ‘The Dark Knight Rises’- the sequel to the
extremely successful ‘The Dark Knight’. The aforementioned
film is number one on the website’s list of most popular
Superhero films, telling us that there is an increasing level
of pressure on Warner Brothers to produce the same high
quality of film to the public. The psychographic factors of
going to see ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ include that succeeders
who enjoyed ‘The Dark Knight’ may go to watch the film
anyway, despite any bad reviews. The main demographic
for this film is young people aged 15, to adults aged 50, all
who have an interest in superhero films of a darker nature.
15.
16. Secondary Research continued
1. The reasons why the article on comingsoon.net believes
that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘The Avengers’ and ‘The
Amazing Spider Man’ will be successful in finding audiences
are that The Dark Knight Rises has a huge advantage being
the sequel to a $533 million grossing movie. Other reasons
include that The Avengers has been the culmination of
years of planning, combining six well-loved characters from
previous summer blockbusters.
Although the article believes that The Amazing Spider Man
is this summers ‘weakest link’, Sony’s first Spider Man movie
set the bar for all the $100 million plus opening Superhero
movies that have come since- indicating that there is
obviously public interest in the Superhero franchise.
17. Sony have also undergone a big global event to spread the
word about The Amazing Spiderman, doing a big Viral
campaign that is similar to what Warner Bros used for The
Dark Knight. Furthermore, The Amazing Spider Man is
opening the day before 4th July- Independence Day- in
America, and is hoping to get a bump from the holiday and
word-of-mouth. The article closes saying that The Amazing
Spider Man will be able to maintain a few good weeks, until
The Dark Knight Rises opens on July 20th, which is likely to
“destroy it’s legs”. I think the reason writer believes the
latter will do so well is because by working for a site like
‘Superhero hype’, they have access to readers who watch
these films, and can predict through polls and message
boards which film is going to be the most popular at the
box office.
18. 2. Star Actors and Star Directors are incredibly
important in helping superhero films to be
successful. Many superhero films have derived from
comics, and viewers have a very specific view on
how the characters should look and behave. It is
imperative that actors are chosen who can cope
with the usually physically demanding role of a
Superhero character, whilst looking good to bring
‘Star Appeal’ to the film.
By hiring an actor or actress who appeals to
audiences and therefore attracts moviegoers is one
of the most important aspects of filmmaking, as this
increases profits.
