AS Media StudiesAudience Research

Jack Alexander

Secondary Research1. Looking at the Dark Knight which is at the number one spot on the list of top 15 films chart there are many reasons as to why this

attracted audiences successfully, one being that this film is a sequel to Batman Begins, which was such a success people would want to follow the trilogy and see what happens next. The institution that contributed to the making of the Dark Knight was Warner Bros which is a very famous institution that everyone has heard of and due to their big history and successes of films people would be attracted by its presence in the making of the film. The films also have a solid fan base which originates from the batman comics produced years before which would be a big interest for the audiences to have. The Incredibles which appeared number 7 on the chart would have been successful in attracting audience because of its quality of humour and also because of its cartoon/animated style which attracts a younger audience. When a young audience is attracted by a film then the majority of these people would need to go with their parents either due to certificate rating or money and therefore the film will get double the profit due to the parents paying the money and also the children too. The movie Hancock which appeared at number 10 on the chart would of attracted audiences mainly to its star appeal which is the main role played by Will Smith, a very popular and successful actor in Hollywood who most people have heard of. The audiences would also of been attracted by its visual effects whether it be seen in the trailers or posters. People that use Sony products such as the PlayStation 3 for example may be attracted to the film because Sony was an institution that contributed to the films success. Spider-man from Sony studios came in second on the chart and the audiences would be attracted to this similarly to why they would be attracted to the Dark Knight because of its fan base which originated from the spider man comic books. There were also previous TV programmes and movies made about spider man that people may have seen that would attract them. Spider man just below the first Spider man movie and would be successful because of it being a sequel to the successful previous

Secondary Research2. The Dark Knight Rises, an upcoming film and sequel to previous films the Dark Knight and Batman Begins would have a target

audience of an age group of 12 up or even 15 and over because the film looks to express a lot of action, explosions and a new villain, which would also attract the fan base which could range in terms of age and gender. The gender could be male dominated because the film lacks that of many women with the exception of very few and in general the content of the trailer I have seen would seem to appeal more to males because of the action included. It may also attract females because one of the major character is a female and also an actress that I quite well known (Anne Hathaway). The Amazing Spider Man which is to be a complete reboot of the Spider Man franchise would have a similar target audience to the previous franchise which would include fans of the comic books and also fans of the previous films themselves. It would also include men who are into action part of the film including fighting and some violence.

3. This article believes that the three films it describes will be successful in finding film audiences because all three of these movies originate from previous instalments/products of the same story/characters and its because of this fan base that will give it a large audience already. The avengers movie will find a large audience because it include several superheroes that appeared in previous films of the same genre and to see them in action on the same screen will attract a large audience because while somebody may dislike Iron man, they may take a liking to the other superheroes in the movie such as Captain America or Thor.

4. Stars and star directors are very important in helping superhero films to be successful because if somebody has seen a lot of movies with a particular actor as the main role and liked all of them then they will want to watch any movies that that actors stars in because they know that actor is reliable and won’t let that person down with their performance. The same goes with star directors, a good example being Steven Spielberg because not only are his films all big success Hollywood blockbusters but also because he has been in the business for decades since his first film ‘Duel’ which was a success. To know and like a director is the need to watch their films knowing they will be entertained by them because they know of that directors skill and popularity.

Primary Research • Discussing with group members Navid Huq and Faisal Saadat via Facebook chat about what we all dislike and like about the

superhero genre, we all agreed that we dislike their originality because most superhero films have the same endings and story overall where the protagonist is defeated and the ending is happy.

• I did disagree because if I take an example like the Dark Knight which did end with the defeat of the Joker however Harvey Dent’s reputation could not be compromised and therefore batman was announced a criminal and chased by Gotham City Police.

• Faisal said that the superhero genre needs a twist in order for the story to not be bland and be predictable, I agreed to this. • Navid said that the superhero villains and their goals which are usually to take over the planet are very predictable and

unrealistic. • I disagreed with Navid’s point because again if you take a look at t he Dark Knight as an example the Joker does not have any

big plan to take over Gotham City or the world, he just wants to cause chaos throughout the city an murder people. This I said I liked because it gave the storyline an interesting villain who does unpredictable things.

Underneath is a print screen sample of my conversation with both group members as evidence: