2. Any media product that is presented and distributed to the public (on any scale), be it: magazines; films;
music etc. will have been influenced by a target audience, of which is used to set the grounds for the
conventions of the product. Target audiences are extremely diverse, featuring differences originating from
age and gender categories - no product can suit every audience as a result of the consumers' conflicting
interests. For my studies I will be producing a film opening of the horror genre with a target audience of
males (primarily), aged between 15-25. In this short presentation I will be discussing the findings of my
research into the horror genre.
These audience profiles from ‘National Metro’ suggest that it is in fact women that are the primary
audience for the horror genre, unfortunately this table doesn’t take into count the quantities of these
audiences. As if it did, it would show that horror movies are particularly popular amongst males and under
25's. With over a third of a typical horror movie audience aged 18-24, they are a highly effective means of
reaching an audience not afraid to go out at night ! Furthermore this being one of the reasons for my choice
to target a predominantly male audience aged between 15-25- including the fact that I reside within this
category, therefore my own opinion is relevant.
3. These figures from www.the-numbers.com suggest Genre Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share
1 Comedy 1,751 $44,792,158,044 $25,580,901 23.48%
that since 1995 the horror genre has been the 7th 2 Adventure 521 $38,199,674,469 $73,319,913 20.03%
most popular film genre, carrying 4.77% of the 3 Drama 3,132 $33,621,012,632 $10,734,678 17.63%
market share. The nest table (originating from the 4 Action 570 $32,066,637,809 $56,257,259 16.81%
5 Thriller/Suspense 561 $15,495,734,985 $27,621,631 8.12%
same source) suggested that R rated films were the
6 Romantic Comedy 403 $11,286,883,357 $28,007,155 5.92%
second most popular category, carrying 28.76% of 7 Horror 329 $9,093,205,812 $27,638,923 4.77%
the market share. 8 Documentary 1,076 $2,063,950,710 $1,918,170 1.08%
9 Musical 113 $1,865,013,970 $16,504,548 0.98%
10 Black Comedy 85 $781,440,299 $9,193,415 0.41%
For my project I will target an audience that is 11 Western 36 $685,432,870 $19,039,802 0.36%
primarily male and is between the age of 15-25. 12 Concert/Performance 41 $293,960,413 $7,169,766 0.15%
The intended viewer would be a C1-C2 voter 13 Multiple Genres 20 $8,280,303 $414,015 0.00%
14 Genre Unknown 5 $1,685,983 $337,197 0.00%
(middle class) and would have a fair amount of Source: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/Genres/
experience regarding the horror genre- horror
would also be their favorite film genre. MPAA Rating Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share
The opening could be viewed using websites such 1 PG-13 2,028 $85,955,147,762 $42,384,195 45.08%
as ‘YouTube’ and ‘Vimeo’ as they both allow free 2 R 3,575 $54,833,115,390 $15,337,934 28.76%
3 PG 986 $36,830,727,925 $37,353,679 19.32%
promotion for any video, which can be seen on a 4 G 276 $10,634,593,071 $38,531,134 5.58%
worldwide scale. Basically, web 2.0 would be 5 Not Rated 2,279 $1,760,744,156 $772,595 0.92%
utilised as a means of finding out about this film, 6 NC-17 21 $72,872,987 $3,470,142 0.04%
7 Open 5 $7,678,311 $1,535,662 0.00%
social media sites such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ Source: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/MPAARatings/
would allow, fan pages for updates regarding the
production of the film, which in itself would help
promote the production and distribution of the
film. The opening could be viewed on a computer,
mobile phone or any other device with an internet
connection and compatible software (which in the
modern day would be most electronics). The
ethnicity of the intended viewer is irrelevant as the
content of the film as the setting/ plot of the film
is not centralised around a particular culture.
