TARGET AUDIENCE

LIV

STATISTICS
I started my exploration by
viewing official reports from the
British Film Institute, the screen
shotto the right shows what
different agecategoriesenjoy
watching in terms of film genre.
The statistics here show that
36% of males who responded
to the survey enjoy watching
horror films compared to 44%
females, these figures differ
from the Sky Horror channel
who reported that 58% of their
viewers are male. The
difference in these figures
demonstrate to me that both
genders enjoy watching horror
films therefore when producing
my own horror film plot and
storyline I will make it engaging
to both males and females.

The statistics also refer to

social class and the results
show that the social class
C2 enjoy watching horror
films the most compared to
other classes. This
category consists of the
skilled working class who
have below average
incomes, this aspect is
significant when marketing
the film. I will consider
social class when
promoting the film as I will
have to take into account
the type of media
platforms people with low
incomes use.

STATISTICS CONTINUED
I also researchedpsycho-graphicsas
these give you a profounder insight
into the target market and it allows
you to target a specific group of
people, knowing what they like and
dont like is important when creating
a promotional package for them.
Psycho-graphics take into account
the personality and behaviour of an
audience rather than
justcategorisingthem by age and
gender which can be very broad, I
will use psycho-graphics to help me
create a profile-raising package as I
will need to consider what they look
for in a product. To the right shows
the psychographic groups:

After examining these

psychographic groups I think
that a horror film would be
targeted at the Explorer
category as this group are
thrill seekers, seek adventure
and sensation which is what
a horror film necessitates. I
would also target the
promotional package at the
Struggler category as they
also seek sensation.

MOVIE DISCUSSION PAGES

I also looked at debate pages and forums for both mainstream and horror
films, one of the pages I considered was,FilmSchoolRejects.com. This
discussion page featured a thread on Paranormal Activity 4 and included
opinions of those who actively engage in film discussion, below are some
examples of comments users posted to the site:

As far as the series goes, 4 was definitely the biggest let down in terms of
scariness
I liked the mystery of the story
4 was all suspense and little payoff in actual scares

The commentaries posted by users showed me that they enjoyed the

mystery and suspense of the storyline however it wasnt scary which again
displays to me that my audience want to be scared! The fact that the horror
audience vigorously engross within horror discussion pages indicates to me
that they are familiar with the genre and theclichs and conventionsthat
come with it, this will encourage me to create something new for the genre
so that this niche audience will be satisfied and their demands met.

http://www.filmschoolreje
cts.com/features/who-is-r
obbie-how-paranormal-acti
vity-4-adds-to-a-franchis
e-thats-already-fun-for-p
uzzle-lovers-ccamp.php

TWITTER
Looking at Twitter gave me a wider understanding into
what people think about existing horror films, I used this
social networking site to find out information as it gave
me access to a broader range of people as the site
enables users to see what other people are saying without
you being friends with them. However, the problem with
this is that there is no way of knowing how old they are.
I used a hashtag, #mama to find out what Twitter users
thought of the newly released horror film, to the right
shows two examples of what people tweeted about the
film.

I have blanked out the user names and

images for the confidentiality of the users.
The tweets here show that they found this
particular film creepy, jumpy and
emotionally scary these elements appear
to have made the film successful for the
horror genre, I will endeavour to add these
features into my own film to make it
popular among my target audience.

FINAL TARGET AUDIENCE

PROFILE

Age: 15- 24

I selected this age group for my target market as my research fromexistinginstitutions such as the UK Film Councilshowed
that 15-24 year olds attended the cinema more than other age categories, this is shown in official statistics.
http://industry.bfi.org.uk/
Gender: Males and females
Social class: C2
I chose this social class to target my film/trailer at as the statistics from the BFI showed that this class category enjoyed
watching horror the most compared to other social classes.

My horror trailer target audience will be aimed towards the age category of 15-24, firstly because most horror films
have a rating certificate of 15 due to the content, and secondly due to the fact that this age range attend more
cinema viewings than others (as it states above). My opening trailer will be attractive to men and women. Firstly,
the men interact more with the male characters on screen due to surges of masculinity in the situations allowing
them to relate. Women can usually relate to horror films but usually in a more negative way as the women in
horrors are usually portrayed as weak and vulnerable. Additionally, dating couples who also make up a large
amount of the audience as the man an assert a reassuring power over the women who may feel defenceless,
bringing their relationship closer. Consequently, I also hope to target couples with my trailer sequence to grant
myself more admiration.