Target Audience Research and Profile

Target Audience Research and Profile

My chosen films are; ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, ‘The Woman in Black’ and ‘The Purge’. 

'A Nightmare on Elm Street’, is an 18, this included so much horror with lots of jump scares. The main gender who it attracted was male at 57% compared to women at only 43%. The main age it was aimed at was 15-24 year olds, who had the highest percentage of 71%. The film covers three different genres, this would attract more viewers as there is more of a range of types of scenes. The high cost of the film at £5,500,000 was down to the fact of high profiled actors and having to use many props and type of settings. The male-gaze theory would increase the amount of males who attend as there was a group of teenagers, this would attract the male gender as there would be ‘pretty’ girls and the group ‘lad’ culture which is included.

‘The Purge’ was certificated a 15, and was mainly aimed at 15-24 year olds, the main gender who viewed this film was males at 65% and females at 35%. This is due to the fact that there is a lot of gore shown in the opening scene, it also has a distressing storyline so wouldn’t be appropriate for younger viewers. The film only covers two genres which could limit the viewing audience, however due to the amount of gore more males were attracted and saw the film. This film produced out of the three which are being analysed, it has the cheapest estimated box office price. The estimated box office price was £1,000,000. This would possibly be due to the lack of actors which are used.

‘The Woman in Black’, is certificated a 12A, which means it is suitable for the younger viewers, also children younger 12 can go to view it, as long as they’re accompanied by an adult.  The main ages for the audience was 15-24, making this the target audience, the younger target audience would be down to the low age certificate of the film, however even though the viewers aged 15-24, had 29% of viewers, the ages 25-34 also had 29% viewers, with 35-44 at 15% and 45+ at 27%, creating quite a high percentage for the older population. The main genders who went to view this film when released in 2012, was male at 60% to females at 40%. For a horror movie, the female percentage was quite high, possibly due to the ‘well known’, famous actor Daniel Radcliff.

Overall, from analysing each film and its opening, from my point of view I will create and produce a certificate 15 film, this means from my research the film wouldn’t be able to dwell, on gore too much but it can be shown. I would also aim it at the male gender therefore this would mean I would use the male-gaze theory to my advantage and use a ‘pretty’ girl to attract the male audience, I would also create tension to build up suspension and to increase the intensity and excitement for the audience. The film made, wouldn’t star any famous actors however, the story line would be intriguing to the audience to capture their attention. I would also use and pick out codes and conventions from horror films and the films analysed to show to the audience that the genre of the film is horror this also would capture their attention.