1. Market Research – Who is the main consumer? We need to know what type of people will be most interested In watching this film that we are producing. We first developed a questionnaire that we had answered by 77 people that we knew from a range of ages between 9 and 73. The two main questions that we were interested in were whether the individual “likes the horror/ thriller genres” and whether people are prepared to “label horror as their favourite genre”. We also acknowledged that our own research might not be as complete as other, more valid studies. So we looked at other people’s studies to apply to our own production. We think that our main target audience should be young, possibly between the ages of 15 and 25.
2. People who like the Horror/ Thriller genres. Results show that 15-25 year olds widely approve of the horror/ thriller genre. There is a significant decrease of the popularity of this genre within other audiences apart from 26-35 year olds, who also maintain a moderately positive view of horrors/ thrillers. Other age groups more noticeably disapprove of this genre,
3. People who label Horror/ thriller as their ‘favourite’ genre. Results show that there is a significantly more even trend of popularity of horror/ thriller when it comes to it being a favourite genre. 15-25 year olds still dominate yet there is a significant reduction in popularity which suggests that there is more of a polarization when it comes to the excessive interest to this genre.
4. Pearlanddean.com www.Pearlanddean.com is a company that specializes in selling advertising to cinemas and contracting advertisers. Their website is a good general resource to look at when you want to find a realistic idea about the sort of audiences that particular films attract. This page here>>> Is a film planner that shows upcoming titles to which there are links where statistical info is placed for contractors to look at and advertise their product(s).
5. Pearlanddean.com Click a link to a film and you are greeted with an abundance of useful and (let us not forget) extremely valid information on target audiences, after all PearlandDean are a professional company that capitalize on this research so, we can trust them. On the left is an example of such a. film. Here we see the genre, projected audience age , gender , class and comparable product
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street This page represents the profile of the horror production ‘A nightmare on Elm Street’ and is reassuring telling us that our questionnaire might hold some amount of validity. The data shows that 71% of the audience is projected to be between the ages of 15 and 24, like our questionnaire. There is an even balance of male/ female. There is a decrease of the film’s popularity amongst 25-34 year olds and more so amongst 35-44 year olds. The existence of an audience in the older age groups might be due to fans of the horror genre.
7. [ REC]^2 REC 2 is a Horror/ Thriller based around the convention of the rage zombie archetype in a contained, claustrophobic apartment. It is arguably similar to our idea. The main audience is between 15 and 24 years old and 25 to 34 years old. The audience is mainly male. The reason for such a high interest of horror from 15-24 year old age group is (I think) due to an innate craving for adrenaline from the younger society. The two example show a consistency in
8. Conclusion From our Primary and Secondary market research I think it is possible to establish that our initial expectations were correct. Horror films in particular are more exclusively enjoyed by a younger audience between the ages of approximately 15 and 24. Young people are predisposed to horror relative to other age groups due to their apparent requirement for healthy doses of excitement and thrills in the form of adrenaline. Horror and Thriller genre-based films tend to provide this rush of adrenaline.
