The document discusses several film franchises including The Purge, Step Up, and The Dark Knight trilogies. For each franchise, it provides a brief summary of each film in the trilogy, noting common plot elements and similarities across the films. It also analyzes target audiences and imagery for each series. The franchises became popular and multiple films were produced due to concepts like The Purge that were new to the horror genre and the large fanbases for properties like Batman that originated from comic books.

1. Trilogies
Sophie Husteden

2. The purge

3. Research
There are 4 films in the horror franchise, The Purge, The Purge: Anarchy, The Purge: Election Year and The First Purge. There is also a TV
series called The Purge, that goes along with the films. The films are based upon a future dystopian America, where once a year crime is
made legal for 12 hours.
The Purge- The plot of the first film is based around a rich family during the purge and how they survive.
The Purge: Anarchy- This one shows how the other side (the poor) survive during those 12 hours.
The Purge: Election Year- In this film they show a electoral candidate that is trying to get rid of the purge, however she is caught in the
middle of the purge and has to survive.
The First Purge- Within this film it shows how the purge got implemented. They show an experiment that was done before the purge
to test it out, which would be the first purge.
Similarities-
One similarity through all of the films is that it is based around the purge night, it begins a few days or hours before the purge begins
and shows the character that we are going to be following. Then the films follow either the character or group that it shows at the
beginning of the film, this could be two different characters that stories then link up, for example in ‘The Purge: Election Year’ it follows
the story of the electoral candidate and an owner of a shop, these stories run along side each other that then joins together when they
meet during the night. Another similarity is that the character that the films are centered around usually gets stuck in the middle of the
purge without anything to protect themselves, for example in the first film the rich family find themselves surrounded by people
purging, they are left without security and no weapons to save themselves.
Target audience
The target audience for these films is the same as ones for other horror films as it is under that genre. The age of the target audience is
15-25, this is because young adults are more likely to enjoy the enjoy the thrills of horror films, also they are less likely to be put off of
any graphic imagery. The target audience for horror films is usually males, this is because they are stereotypically more likely to enjoy
the violence. The socio-economic class is mainly middleclass, this is due to the fact that it is relatively cheap to go to the cinema.

4. Imagery Each of the films has a certain look which shows that they are
all from the same franchise. By this I mean that they all look
quite dark and gritty, this is meant to make it look scary and
more intimidating.
An important part of each of the films is that some of the
purgers have masks, this is important to this franchise as it is
featured in each of the films and has become somewhat of a
trademark for the films. These masks tend to be used to
advertise these films, they are normally always the main
image on the advertising posters for the films and versions of
them are sold as merchandise for the films.
The reason that I think that these films were able to become
a franchise is because the concept of the purge is new and
refreshing from the old horror stereotypes. Another reason
that I think that they became so popular is because horror
films tend to do quite well money wise, this is because they
can be quite low budget but can still get a big profit. For
instance the budget for the first purge film was $3 million,
and it pulled in just under $90 million. One more reason why
it became a franchise is due to Halloween and how people
like to watch horror films around that time.

5. Step up

6. Research
The step up franchise consists of 5 films, Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, Step Up Revolution, Step Up: All In, and a television
series called Step Up: High Water. They are drama films based around street dancers.
Step Up- Tyler Gage receives the chance to earn a scholarship at a performing arts school, after he vandalizes some of their property, all
he has to do is perform with an up-and-coming dancer Nora Clark.
Step Up 2: The Streets- Romantic sparks occur between two dance students from very different backgrounds at the Maryland school of
performing arts.
Step Up 3D- A tight-knit group of New York city street dancers, find themselves pitted against the worlds best hip hop dancers in a high-
stakes showdown.
Step Up Revolution- A group of flash mob dancers attempt to save their Miami homes from being made into hotels.
Step Up: All In- All-stars from previous films come together to win a competition that could define their dreams and their careers.
Similarities
Some similarities between the films is that they always have a romantic relationship between two characters from different backgrounds,
for instance in Step Up the rough street dancer and the privileged ballet dancer fall in love, or in Step Up Revolution the character and the
daughter of the person that is going to get rid of their homes fall in love. Another similarity between all the films is that the
underprivileged character is usually the main, for instance in Step Up 2: The Streets the main character is an orphan that grew up in care
and never had the money to go to a dance school. The reason that the main character may be this is because they want the audience to
feel sorry for them and to root for the character.
Target Audience
The age of the target audience is between 8-20, this is because it is a PG film, which means that it is suitable for children aged 8 upwards.
Also it is suitable for people up to 20 because it is a teen film that anyone could enjoy. The target gender is mainly female, this is because
it is a classic romance film that is usually aimed towards females as they are more likely to drawn to this genre. The socio-economic class
for the target audience is most likely working class, this is because it is quite cheap to go to the cinema.

7. Imagery The first two films look a bit different from the
rest of them. They have a darker tone to them,
where as the others are brighter and colourful. I
think that they did this because the first two films
were aimed more towards teens, but after they
were released more younger people watched
them so they made them more aimed towards a
younger audience.
The step up movies all have a similar format to
them, by this I mean how the plot evolves. It
starts by showing the main character and them
having a hard time, then something happens that
makes them gain hope in dancing, after that they
get together a dance crew, next they will find a
competition or event that they need to dance for,
then they something will happen that’s like the
characters down fall, after they will have a
motivational moment where they get their crew
back, then they will dance a big final dance and
have a happy ending.
I think that the reason why these became a
franchise is because there were not many dance
films that were about street dance, so it was
different from any other films of that genre.

8. The Dark Knight

9. Research
There are three movies within the Dark Knight franchise, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. The genre of these films
are action and they are based off of the Frank Miller graphic novels Batman Year One, The Dark Knight Raises and The Dark Knight Strikes
Again.
Batman Begins- This is the origin story of Batman. It starts with the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents to the journey he had to take to become
batman, and the story of how he had to save Gotham from Ra’s al Ghul and the Scarecrow.
The Dark Knight- This film shows Bruce Wayne/Batman, police lieutenant James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent form an alliance
to get rid of organised crime in Gotham. All while the Joker tries to undermine Batman’s influence and cause chaos in the city.
The Dark Knight Rises- Batman thought he could get away from Gotham, but he got pulled back when Bane threatens the safety of the
citizens of Gotham.
Similarities
One similarity between the films is how they have a main villain that fights batman through out the film, so for Batman Begins it’s the
Scarecrow, for The Dark Knight it is the Joker and for The Dark Knight Raises it is Bane. Another similarity between the films is that
Target Audience
The age of the target audience is between 12 and 30, however this depends on which film, this is because Batman Begins and The Dark
Knight Raises are both rated 12, whereas The Dark Knight is rated 15. The gender of the target audience is mainly male, this is because they
are more likely to be drawn to the violence and action in the film. The target social class is middle class people because films are relatively
cheap to go to.

10. Imagery The films all have a similar look to them, they all
look quite dark and almost gritty. This is because
that is the style that the comics are in, also they are
meant to mostly be at night as Batman is meant to
be fighting in the night and Bruce Wayne in the day.
All of the films have a similar plot, so there is things
that happens in each of the movies around a
similar time. Around midway through the movie
there is a part of the film where Bruce is put down
in some way and has to build himself back up, so in
the Dark Knight Rises he gets beaten in a fight
between him and Bane, this results in a injury and
he has to build himself back up from it. Then later
in the film there is a big battle type thing, where
Batman has to save the day, for instance in The
Dark Knight he captures the Joker and saved the
people on the two boats.
I think that the reason that these became a
tribology is because they came from a comic book
series, which was three books, this means that they
had to make three films to match the three books.
Another reason is that the first film was quite
popular, this is because there is big cult following
for Batman.