1. Researching The Genre Horror & It‟s Audiences
Cinema Audiences
Horror Audiences
Audience data for a similar
film to my initial idea.
Horror advertisements &
promotions – Audience
Influences
Film Trailer Audiences
Zara Butterworth

2. Cinema Audiences
Audiences- Definition:
Audience data describes the gender, age, ethnicity, social group and region
of the film audience as a whole and for particular popular film titles.
Shares of UK cinema audience by age
%
100
90 45+
80 Here is an example graph showing the breakdown of the ages of
35-44
70
60
people who visit the cinema on a yearly timescale, as you can see from
50
40
25-34
the graph 15-24 year olds are most likely to attend a cinema showing,
30 this helps my primary research as I can use these demographics to
20 15-24
select my target audience.
10
0
Graph from : http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/audiences
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
I asked people from the age group 15-24; “What do you look for from a cinema experience”
Some of the Feedback: „ Good value for money‟
„Seeing new film Trailers before the film to decide what film to watch next‟
„ Buying merchandise for the movie, I used to have all the stars wars figures!‟
„ Films which are really big like Harry Potter, it was fun because people dressed up‟
„ Being able to watch the film and then rent it at home, paranormal activity had two endings!

3. Horror Audiences
Horror-Definition :an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or
revolting; a shuddering fear.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/horror
Why do people choose to watch horror films?
Horror films have an added element of entertainment and excitement, Audiences choose to watch horror films mainly
because they have the „Thrill factor‟ Compared with other genres such as comedy which are designed to be humorous
or action films which entertain people in a different way.
As there are many types of horror films and sub-genres people visit the cinema to enjoy different experiences, for
example; A paranormal film is designed for the purpose of creating mystery and suspense.
Target audiences for horror;
Some of my research conducted on the website ( http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk )
shows that a typical viewer of the horror genre is more likely to be Male and within the age range of 15-24, the reason
for this is that the largest group of cinema goers are people ages 15-24 (see cinema audiences slide) and male‟s because
they tend to seek thrill and action within films whereas females typically prefer genres such as comedy and romance
because it is lighter entertainment.
However recent figures show that females watching horror has exceeded male viewers for the first time.
Not only are women conventionally less likely to visit the cinema to see horrors but statistics show that the vast majority
of films within the genre are directed, written and produced my men.
Evidence of this comes from the article I have researched on the uk film council website, here is an extract ;
The number of women attending cinema screenings of horror films now marginally exceeds male attendance figures for the first time. With
funding support from Skillset Film Skills' Fund, Warp X in partnership with Threshold Studios, has established Darklight: Women
Direct Horror, a unique training and production initiative to encourage women directors keen to reinvent the horror genre for the 21st
Century.

4. Audience data for a similar film to my initial idea.
Similar film: Orphan
Genre : Mystery / Thriller
Brief synopsis: A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl
who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/
Research: From my initial research there are limited demographics regarding film
audience specifics for this film , however in my own attempt to analyse a typical
audience for „Orphan‟ I would expect to find that the viewers range in typicality's.
The film may appeal to females because the main character is a young
girl, additionally other centre characters feature her parents, family and teachers so it
could reach out to ; Couples and Teens age age 15+ as its viewing certificate is 15.
Quotes from reviews :
“Finally, a horror film about adults.”
“Orphan is very disturbing at parts, and pretty gruesome.”
“Dark, edgy, twisted, effective, clever, intense, and blackly comic - one of the best "evil
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/
child" films I've seen.”
The last quote in particular would also apply to how I want my film to be presented, my film includes a young
psychologically disturbed girl, if the film were to be fully produced it would feature her parents who are also
on a mission to discover the mystery of her strange traits.

5. Horror advertisements & promotions – Audience Influences
How companies target people to watch horrors.
Shark night – Advertised on Odeon cinema
website, includes; Film trailer, Synopsis & Film
reviews and ratings. This targets online viewers.
The Body Farm- This horror TV drama is available
to a home audience through the online market. The
page includes; a brief overview of the plot, previous
programmes and ratings.
The Sun newspaper is an example of how films are
advertised through printed media, here
technological convergence is used as the film is also
featured on the newspapers website.

6. Film Trailer Audiences
Film trailers are a regular promotional feature within the film industry, trailers help the audience have a brief
overview of the film plot and decide weather they would go and watch the film; trailers can be found in various
contexts;
-Before films in the cinema- usually more than one trailer featuring release dates and film context.
-On Actual film websites used to promote to online audiences.
-On TV where producers can reach a wider audience.
Examples
The sun Website Paranormal activity 3 website Cinema screening
As there is a constant demand for new films , the industry has to target a wide audience, showing trailers in various forms
means that promotion in the 21‟st century can reach almost every audience.
Even when a consumer doesn‟t plan to go to the cinema or view a trailer they are still exposed to all kinds of media
promotions , such as TV , Newspaper and Cinema Screenings.
Film companies spend Billions on influencing audiences to attend the cinema.