Audience Research

The opening of a film is very significant as it establishes the overall theme and tone of the film and gives the audience an impression of what they will be watching. Characters, setting and narrative must be taken into account when making a film opening, as these must all be introduced if not in the opening, (in some cases the openings act as more of a prologue than an introduction) early in the film.  It should set up or foreshadow the narrative but also establish the atmosphere of the work. Filmmakers must know what will appeal to audiences and make them want to continue to watching. Different genres have different audiences, meaning that a combination of genres will attract a wider range of people; in our case aspects of horror, comedy and western themes will be used.

This is the top ten UK box office results from last week. It displays a wide range of genres, including horror, comedy, thriller, drama, romantic comedy and family films. The genre of horror is popular with audiences because it is enjoyable to be scared and they are easy to watch and highly entertaining, unlike some of these films which may be more complex and difficult. Horrors and comedies usually allow the audience to sit back and relax, to an extent, as there is not too much plot to take into consideration, so it is very easy to follow. 

 This graph from the UK Film Council shows the demand for different genres of films, based on a poll taken by 1978 people. As is also shown here, the genre of horror is fairly popular, though Western is much less so. This is because of the gradual loss of mainstream Western movies over time. They were very popular in the early to mid 20th century, as the whole genre of Western in other fiction had been prominent around that time. Since then Westerns have become far less popular and it is unusual to see them in the cinema. However, there has been a phase of modern Westerns becoming popular, such as the American television show Justified. Remakes such as '3:10 to Yuma' and 'True Grit' have been successful in the last few years, indicating that Westerns and genre films in general may be gaining popularity again. Our film also would aim to increase the popularity of western films by combining this genre with a currently popular one. It is an original concept that is likely to catch people's attention. 

This shows that both Westerns and horrors are more popular with men than women and generally younger people. This could be because of the exaggerated fast paced nature of them. Because of this we will aim to target young people, however we will try to appeal to both genders to an extent, although as generally horror, and therefore mostly violent films are more popular among a male audience our film probably will be more appealing to guys.