Audience Research

I did some audience research into the types of films people like, I interviewed a number of people to see what films they enjoyed, what made them want to go to the cinema and so on. Here is what I found.
I asked my participants a series of questions;
1. What films do you like?
2. What's your favourite film?
3. What type of films do you tend to go to the cinema to see?
4. What do you look for in a film?
5. What was the last film you saw in the cinema?

I recieved a range of responses from my participants, here are their answers.

What films do you like?

Action films,
Comedy films,
Most films,
All films,
Rom Com,
Spy,
Period Dramas,
Films that make you think,
Films set in locations all over the world,
Animation,
Children's films

What's your favourite film?

"Se7en",
"Grease",
"Anchorman",
"The Hangover",
"(500) Days of Summer",
"Eat, Pray, Love"
"Despicable Me"

What films do you tend to go to the cinema to see?

New ones,

I go with whatever my friends want to see

Films that I like, I wouldn't go to see a film at the cinema unless I really wanted to see it

Mainly Action or Comedy films

I tend to see whatever films out when I want to go to the cinema

I like to see different films that aren't particularly mainstream

I like to see films that don't make you think about things unnecessarily

What do you look for in a film?

I like a strong leading man,

A good plot,

A meaningful plot line,

Explosions,

Good drama, a interesting plot, a love story

An engaging plot,

I like songs that I can sing along to

What was the last film you went to see at the cinema?

Sherlock Holmes 2

Johnny English 2

Mission Impossible 4

Mission Impossible 4

War Horse

This Means War

Happy Feet 2

Audience Profiles

Last lesson's objectives

1. To understand the way in which audiences are classified.

2. To understand different approaches to concepts of audiences, audience theory.

How might we categorise an audience?

* Age

* Gender

* Social Class

* Culture

* Jobs

* Area they live

* Steriotypes

* Religion

* Ethnicity

ABC1 = Middle Class

C2DE = Working Class

Films are usually aimed at ABC1 as they have more disposable income, hierarchy or needs, individualism. Once you've bought the necessities then ABC1 tend to have more money than C2DE to spend on going to the cinema. These classes tend to be classified by your job.

Audience Profile for an Acutaliser

Robert, 39, is a banker, who lives in Chelsea, he attends the opera and ballet at least once a month. He's married to Julia, 36, with two children, Charles who's 9 and Katherine who's 6. They have a housekeeper and only shop at the most expensive shops. They read the Guardian with breakfast. Both children go to private school and Robert went to Eton, he has enough money to retire comfortably but he wants to maintain his current lifestyle. Julia went to Cambridge but doesn't have a job although she is on numerous charity boards. She reads Vogue. Robert's guilty pleasure movies are Jason Statham movies.

Audience Profile for a Struggler

Emma is a 28 year old cashier at Lidl, she's been there for 3 years and she also is a waitress at a Mexican restaurant on Saturday nights but she still can't pay the bills. She lives above a Kebaby, she used to be a drug addict and every day is a struggle to stay clean. She prefers to keep to herself, she doesn't have many friends and all of her friends have either overdosed or are still in the drug trade. Her parents disowned her after she ran away from rehab. She really likes the band Friendly Fires and Everything Everything.

My audience profile for my film

My film is aimed at the ABC1 classes, the middle class.

Patrick is a university student, he’s studying film studies. He likes to go see art-house films but also likes mainstream. He prefers music that most people haven’t heard of. He likes crime/thriller films, films that make you think rather than the typical RomCom. He likes going to cinema to escape, he likes to live vicariously through the characters on the screen.

Stories

Today in class we were given the sentence, Ross a _____ year old male woke and looked around him.

We then had to fill in the blank and carry on the story. We then passed our openings around the class until ending the story and giving it back to the person who started it.

This is the finished product of my story.

Ross a 28 year old male woke and looked around him, he was alone in a padded cell, dressed in a straight jacket and orange jumpsuit, and there was nothing but a bed, bolted to the ground, in his cell. Ross' hair was short, buzz cut and he had a ginger goatee. He had dark rings under his eyes and looked ill, his skin was turning a yellowy colour.

He took a coin out of his orange jumpsuit and twiddled it in his hands, trying to recall how he got to be behind bars.

There was a small window high in the wall above the bed, the only source of light, with bars around it. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of something black. He looked and saw a crow perched on the sill. He stared into its eye on the other side of the window and wondered why it was allowed to be free, unlike him. "A bird should be captured and locked away, not me" he thought as he stepped down and brought his attention back to the coin.

Just as he had the chance to draw his attention back to the coin, a long ear-piercing screech sounded across the empty, cell. "Ross," grunted to prison warden, "time for your call to home. Get out." Ross stood down from upon the bed, kissed the coin and dragged himself across the cell, concentrating hard not to fall over; his left leg was badly broken but he had not been permitted the right to go to the hospital. He entered another room in which there was a table, a chair and a telephone with 4 prison guards, it was seemed he was not even trusted to make a phone call without being under heavy security. He sat down, picked up the telephone and called. It rang once, there was a soft click and his mother's soft heavenly tone answered. "Darling? Is that you? Ross?"

"Mum? How did you get hold of me?"

"I pulled a few strings, but now listen, I think I can get you out of there! There's a kid been murdered on our street"

"How is that going to help me?" He said sarcastically.

"Because I know who did it! I can testify as a witness"

"What did you see?"

"Nothing but I can pretend I did. They have no evidence to suggest I wasn't at home"

"I still can't see how that is going to get me out of jail."

"Because if you use your brain you'll see how we can turn this whole thing around, I can say it was James! That the real murderer of your son is still alive and killing. I know you can make this work!"

There was silence down the phone.

"Ross?"

"I have to go now Mum, don't say anything for now. I've got a plan...."

This isn't what I thought my story would turn out like, one change made was that he was in a prison, I thought he'd be in a mental hospital, hence the straight jacket.

IMDB list of 250 films

Rank	Title
1.	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2.	The Godfather (1972
3.	The Godfather: Part II (1974
4.	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
5.	Pulp Fiction (1994
6.	12 Angry Men (1957)
7.	Schindler's List (1993)
8.	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975
9.	The Dark Knight (2008)
10.	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
11.	Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
12.	Inception (2010)
13.	Seven Samurai (1954)
14.	Fight Club (1999)
15.	Goodfellas (1990)
16.	Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
17.	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
18.	City of God (2002)
19.	Casablanca (1942)
20.	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
21.	The Matrix (1999)
22.	Rear Window (1954)
23.	Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
24.	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
25.	The Usual Suspects (1995)
26.	Psycho (1960)
27.	Se7en (1995)
28.	Forrest Gump (1994)
29.	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
30.	It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
31.	Memento (2000)
32.	Sunset Boulevard (1950)
33.	Leon (1994)
34.	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
35.	Apocalypse Now (1979)
36.	American History X (1998)
37.	North by Northwest (1959)
38.	Citizen Kane (1941)
39.	Toy Story 3 (2010)
40.	American Beauty (1999)
41.	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
42.	Saving Private Ryan (1998)
43.	Taxi Driver (1976)
44.	Alien (1979)
45.	Spirited Away (2001)
46.	Vertigo (1958)
47.	City Lights (1931)
48.	The Shining (1980)
49.	Paths of Glory (1957)
50.	Amelie (2001)
51.	The Pianist (2002)
52.	M (1931)
53.	WALL·E (2008)
54.	Double Indemnity (1944)
55.	The Lives of Others (2006)
56.	The Departed (2006)
57.	A Clockwork Orange (1971)
58.	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
59.	Aliens (1986)
60.	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
61.	Modern Times (1936)
62.	Requiem for a Dream (2000)
63.	Life Is Beautiful (1997)
64.	Das Boot (1981)
65.	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
66.	Reservoir Dogs (1992)
67.	Back to the Future (1985)
68.	The Third Man (1949)
69.	L.A. Confidential (1997)
70.	Chinatown (1974)
71.	The Prestige (2006)
72.	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
73.	Cinema Paradiso (1988)
74.	The Green Mile (1999)
75.	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
76.	Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
77.	Rashomon (1950)
78.	Raging Bull (1980)
79.	The Great Dictator (1940)
80.	Amadeus (1984)
81.	Full Metal Jacket (1987)
82.	Some Like It Hot (1959)
83.	Singin' in the Rain (1952)
84.	All About Eve (1950)
85.	Gladiator (2000)
86.	Bicycle Thieves (1948)
87.	Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
88.	The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
89.	Braveheart (1995)
90.	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
91.	Metropolis (1927)
92.	The Apartment (1960)
93.	Oldboy (2003)
94.	Downfall (2004)
95.	Unforgiven (1992)
96.	The Sting (1973)
97.	Inglourious Basterds (2009)
98.	Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
99.	The Elephant Man (1980)
100.	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
101.	Princess Mononoke (1997)
102.	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
103.	Gran Torino (2008)
104.	Up (2009)
105.	The Maltese Falcon (1941)
106.	On the Waterfront (1954)
107.	Die Hard (1988)
108.	Rebecca (1940)
109.	The Great Escape (1963)
110.	The Seventh Seal (1957)
111.	Batman Begins (2005)
112.	Sin City (2005)
113.	Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
114.	The Lion King (1994)
115.	Yojimbo (1961)
116.	Black Swan (2010)
117.	Heat (1995)
118.	For a Few Dollars More (1965)
119.	The General (1926)
120.	Blade Runner (1982)
121.	Fargo (1996)
122.	Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
123.	Snatch. (2000)
124.	Ran (1985)
125.	The King's Speech (2010)
126.	Jaws (1975)
127.	Hotel Rwanda (2004)
128.	Wild Strawberries (1957)
129.	Touch of Evil (1958)
130.	No Country for Old Men (2007)
131.	The Wizard of Oz (1939)
132.	The Big Lebowski (1998)
133.	Toy Story (1995)
134.	The Deer Hunter (1978)
135.	The Sixth Sense (1999)
136.	Cool Hand Luke (1967)
137.	Drive (2011)
138.	Annie Hall (1977)
139.	Strangers on a Train (1951)
140.	It Happened One Night (1934)
141.	Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
142.	Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
143.	Platoon (1986)
144.	Scarface (1983)
145.	High Noon (1952)
146.	Donnie Darko (2001)
147.	Into the Wild (2007)
148.	Ikiru (1952)
149.	Trainspotting (1996)
150.	The Gold Rush (1925)
151.	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
152.	Million Dollar Baby (2004)
153.	The Wages of Fear (1953)
154.	The Kid (1921)
155.	Gone with the Wind (1939)
156.	Notorious (1946)
157.	There Will Be Blood (2007)
158.	The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
159.	Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
160.	The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
161.	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
162.	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
163.	Amores Perros (2000)
164.	A Separation (2011)
165.	Groundhog Day (1993)
166.	The Thing (1982)
167.	Life of Brian (1979)
168.	Ben-Hur (1959)
169.	District 9 (2009)
170.	Casino (1995)
171.	The Graduate (1967)
172.	Finding Nemo (2003)
173.	The Terminator (1984)
174.	The Big Sleep (1946)
175.	The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
176.	Les Diaboliques (1955)
177.	The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
178.	Stand by Me (1986)
179.	How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
180.	The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
181.	V for Vendetta (2006)
182.	Twelve Monkeys (1995)
183.	Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
184.	My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
185.	Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)
186.	Good Will Hunting (1997)
187.	Gandhi (1982)
188.	The Wrestler (2008)
189.	Network (1976)
190.	The Night of the Hunter (1955)
191.	The Battle of Algiers (1966)
192.	The 400 Blows (1959)
193.	8½ (1963)
194.	Mary and Max (2009)
195.	Ratatouille (2007)
196.	The Princess Bride (1987)
197.	The Killing (1956)
198.	Dial M for Murder (1954)
199.	Avatar (2009)
200.	Persona (1966)
201.	The Hustler (1961)
202.	La Strada (1954)
203.	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
204.	Star Trek (2009)
205.	The Exorcist (1973)
206.	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
207.	The Wild Bunch (1969)
208.	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
209.	Stalag 17 (1953)
210.	Fanny and Alexander (1982)
211.	The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
212.	Barry Lyndon (1975)
213.	Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
214.	Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
215.	Rocky (1976)
216.	The Truman Show (1998)
217.	All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
218.	Sherlock Jr. (1924)
219.	The Incredibles (2004)
220.	Nights of Cabiria (1957)
221.	In Bruges (2008)
222.	Mystic River (2003)
223.	Let the Right One In (2008)
224.	Rosemary's Baby (1968)
225.	Magnolia (1999)
226.	Infernal Affairs (2002)
227.	Big Fish (2003)
228.	The Social Network (2010)
229.	Roman Holiday (1953)
230.	Festen (1998)
231.	Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
232.	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
233.	Ed Wood (1994)
234.	Manhattan (1979)
235.	Rope (1948)
236.	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
237.	Ip Man (2008)
238.	Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
239.	Stalker (1979)
240.	Children of Men (2006)
241.	A Beautiful Mind (2001)
242.	Shutter Island (2010)
243.	Patton (1970)
244.	Tokyo Story (1953)
245.	Sleuth (1972)
246.	Monsters, Inc. (2001)
247.	Rain Man (1988)
248.	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (2003)
249.	Beauty and the Beast (1991)
250.	Nosferatu (1922)

Above is a list of 250 top films from www.imdb.com we were given this list in class and of these 250 I've seen 71.

Throughout the course I'll be updating this list, highlighting all of the films I watch.