The document discusses research conducted on audiences for social realist films. It finds that likely audiences for a social realist introductory film include: younger adults and teenagers who can relate to the themes of teenage life and drug abuse portrayed; British viewers who will understand the dialects; and those from poorer backgrounds who may empathize with the storylines. However, the film may not appeal to those uncomfortable with drug themes or only older generations who prefer traditional viewing methods. The all-male cast may also create a gender bias among viewers.

2. My product is an introductory sequence
of
a full film synopsis, created for a
foundation portfolio blog.
My intro is using techniques and
practices that we have researched as
part of this blog. It also had specific
planning for its production as well as
how it would appeal to audiences.

3. Through various research into the genre, (such as analysis of
Samantha Lay’s “Social realism in the British context”) I placed my
product into the social realism category of film.
My product uses forms and conventions from
popular and niche social realist texts. However, it
also develops these and tries to challenge some
as well. This was to stop it from seeming
‘textbook’ to the average or fanatical viewer.
Social realism is defined as the realistic depiction in art of
contemporary life, as a means of social or political comment. This
means that I had to produce realistic representations of social groups,
locations and events from everyday life. This means that audiences
who watch film to escape reality – such as consumers of sci-fi and
action films - would be deterred from watching this.

4. Earlier on in my project, I conducted an
online questionnaire asking people questions
concerning social realism.
I then analyzed the results of this, however
there was not a large enough number of
responses to make conclusive evidence
towards something.
However, I did find from these that people of around the age
of 16-18 use online streaming as their main and possibly
only platform for viewing films.
This means that younger viewers may be more likely to watch my
final product from the fact that it is free and online.

5. To find who the general consumers of social realist texts are, I
undertook audience research concerning the exhibition and
consumption of films from the genre.I visited the amazon website as well as the online film database, IMDb
to look through the reviews and information of popular social realist
texts.
There were 73 user-written reviews of the 1969
film ‘Kes’ by Ken Loach and they gave it an
average rating of 7.7/10. From highlighting
several high-rated reviews, we found that avid
consumers of social realist texts such as this tend
to be:
• literate
• knowledgeable of the themes, issues and representations social realism
films feature
• British (usually associating with the locations and cultures presented)
• Demographically young adults to middle aged

6. The reviews from amazon indicated that consumers of
social realist texts such as ‘Kes’ also read social realist
novels or books that are then made into films.
This means that older generations
who avidly read books like these,
could be interested in my product.
Also, some reviews from amazon showed that people from a
poorer or ‘gritty’ background empathized with the storyline of
the narrative and therefore enjoyed it more.
This suggests that people who come from the same social
classes or cultures as the characters in my film, are likely to be
attracted towards it.

7. Through research I have found that people tend to watch films that they can relate to
either in first-hand or second-hand experiences. For example, if someone actually
knows or has been to the areas in the film, they are more likely to be interested in
watching it.There are several features that consumers could associate with in my film, including:
 Teenage life
 Drugs
 Southern British dialect
 Male lifestyles

8. Teenage Life:
People who are around the age of 15-18 are likely to watch my film due to its
inclusion of non-professional actors who are all teens. This is because they can relate to
the challenges they may face as well as their clothing choices, slang, hangouts etc.
Drug Abuse:
People who have faced drug problems themselves, or have been directly affected by
someone the love abusing these, productions concerning this (such as my intro) will be
more attractive towards this type of audience. However it does also deter people who
are do not feel comfortable with these themes. This may include elderly, religious or
faint-hearted people. Not only this, but younger viewers will not be able to watch this
through inappropriate or suggestive content, creating a more specific age boundary for
my product.

9. Male lifestyles:
Men are more likely to watch a film if the lead roles include mostly men. So my
product, which features an only-male cast is much more likely to attract an
audience of the same gender, whereby females may be off put or uninterested by
this.
British Dialect:
Due to the niche industry that is British independent film, people who are from
other countries are much less likely to view my product. For example, a film where
there is strong northern or ‘chavy’ accents/dialects used, people from america may
find it hard to understand. However, British people who know or come from the
areas are then much more likely to be attracted towards this, and will have a better
understanding of the points being made.

10. Audiences can share, discuss and view films across many
different mediums, but audiences now tend to be more specific
with what they use themselves. For example, through research, I
found that most 15-18 year olds use only online streaming to
watch their films; whether this is using illegal downloads or simply
subscribing to services like Netflix.
Online streaming:
online streaming has become more and more popular over recent
years, and because of this, people are using traditional methods of
watching films such as cinemas, dvds or videos less and less.
However, older generations are generally still using older mediums for
film, and will therefore be much less likely to see my product, due to it
being only exhibited online.

11. Almost all people who use the internet are
part of one type of social networking site.
This means that people are much more
likely to view your product if it has been
shared or talked about on these sites.
Youtube: Youtube has become the biggest video sharing site in the
world. People can upload their own videos or can view
and share others. This means that from my product
being uploaded directly onto youtube, it can be shared
directly onto several social media sites.
Demographically speaking, the most frequent and consistent users of
social networking sites are youths from 14-24.
However there is no major
difference in numbers of
boys and girls, so a mix of
genders could see my
product on these sites.

12. For my entire project, all media
was filmed and edited digitally.
This means that advocates of
traditional filming techniques are
less likely to be interested in the
intro.
As well as this, people who own conventional film projectors for
home cinema purposes or because they do not DVD players will be
unable to view my film in their preferred fashion. This means that this
will be an improbable audience for my product.
Who uses these methods?
Recording with film is very expensive for the average user, due
camera prices, as well as the expensive of purchasing and processing
the film. This suggests that people of higher class or older generations
who still own the equipment, are the general advocates/users of
classical filming methods.

13. My introduction features an only-male
cast.
This will therefore create a more gender-
biased
audience demographic.
As well as this, due to none of the characters within
being
sexually provocative or portraying the hyper- masculine
archetypes of other films.
Females or homosexuals may therefore be uninterested or
apathetic towards the characters. However this may be more
pleasing for heterosexual males and create more of a gender
bias in the audience demographics.