AS media

1. Post 6: Research AUDIENCE PROFILE
The audience play a vital role in the making of a successful film, without them the film
would not make any money. And money is the most important thing in the film
industry
Ross Fisher- 3069 1

2. Source: www.bbfc.co.uk Different Film Certificates
- A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over
- Very mild bad language (eg ‘damn’ and ‘hell’)
- Characters may be seen kissing or cuddling.
- Mild violence only. Occasional mild threat or menace only.
- Occasional natural nudity, with no sexual context.
- The genre of these films are appropriate to a young audience. This doesn’t mean that all films rated U are
children’s films.
-Our thriller film will not be a U as it will contain more suspense which could scare people to fit a U film.
-PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, A PG film should not
disturb a child aged around eight or older.
- Horror Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense.
- Mild bad language only.
- Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed.
- Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent.
- Our Thriller will not be suitable for children so this isn't the rating to use when making our opening .
- 12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. Children younger
than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult if the film is a 12 A.
- The 12 certificate is just for videos, DVDs and Blu-rays. 12A is for cinema only.
- Horror Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted.
- Moderate language is allowed. The use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’) must be infrequent
- Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sex references should not go beyond what is
suitable for teenagers.
- Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on
injuries or blood.
- I do not think that this should be the rating we stick too in case we use a lot of swearing and a
violence in the piece, it is much safer to go to a higher certificate.
Ross Fisher- 3069 2

3. Different Film Certificates
- No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.
-strong violence.
-frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
-portrayals of sexual activity.
-strong verbal references to sex.
-sexual nudity.
-brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence.
-discriminatory language or behaviour.
-drug taking.
-Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or
sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
- This is the certificate I think that we schould work towards it alows most things and research later will show that
thrillers are generally this certificate.
-Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy an 18 rated DVD.
-very strong violence.
-frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)
-Strong portrayals of sexual activity.
-scenes of sexual violence.
-strong horror.
-strong blood and gore.
-real sex (in some circumstances)
-discriminatory language and behaviour.
- This is not appropriate as it means that children our age will not be able to view the film because of the raiting
and we do not want that.
The BBFC is the company which regulate the certificates that the film receives this means that children are not
subjected to things they should not be.
After looking at the guidelines for each film certificate, I feel that our own thriller will most likely be rated a ‘15’.
Rating our film a ‘15’ will attract a large number of people, incorporating the age group that visit the cinema
most frequently, 15-25 year olds. A ‘15’ rating will allow us to explore the strong and mature themes that so
often feature in thriller films with few restrictions regarding content, allowing us to create a realistic and
Ross Fisher- 3069 engaging thriller opening.
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4. http://www.myvue.com/latest-
Thriller Films currently in Cinema and Certificates. movies/cinema/westfield/view/all-times
Showing times:
Standard film times
13:10, 16:40,20:10,23:40,13:15,20:30
These are shown daily which show there
is a big appeal for thriller market. This is a
15 rated thriller
Showing times:
13:50,16:20,18:50,,21:20,23:45
The film shows that there are new thrillers
being made all the time. Most of the showings
are late in the day which is because people
are out of school/work to watch the films.
Standard film times
15:45, 18:40
This shows the thriller is at the end of its
showing time and is only showing at
certain times because the demand has
gone.
This shows that the Thriller genre is going well in the cinema with new releases
being bought out often and late in the day when people finish there studies or
work as they are 15+ there are not many over 15’s who are available in the early
morning.
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5. Successful thrillers
The two different charts show the life time gross of thriller films since they have hit the
cinemas. The chart on the left shows the physiological thriller films and the one on
the right is On the Run thriller films. The two graphs show that there is a big audience
for these films and that even in the modern day with the film ‘salt’ they still take a lot
of money at the box office because the appeal of thrillers is still there.
Ross Fisher- 3069 Source of graph : http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=thrillerontherun.htm 5

6. Interview
• I conducted an interview with my cousin who is 20 and is a film goer he enjoys the thriller genre and he knows what
he likes in a THRILLER film.
Tom, when you go to the cinema to watch a thriller film what do you expect
to see?
When I go to see a thriller I want to be hooked from the second the film starts, if
the film has a rubbish start I will just get disinterested in what I am watching.
You say you like to be hooked onto the film from the start. But how do you think
that a thriller film is successfully started?
Well.. When I sit in my seat and it starts I like to see a certain event that will set
the story for the rest of the thriller. This would ideally be built up with the idea
of fear and suspense. This means I am on the edge of my seat right from the
start and starting to enjoy the film.
Thank you for your time and opinions Tom.
Ross Fisher- 3069 6

7. Questionnaire To help get an understanding on the audience who go to the cinema I
went to Westfield and handed out a questionnaire for people to
1. Are you Male or Female? answer I handed out 15 of these and here are the results.
male: 9
female: 6
Gender of people who Age of the film goers
2. Age Category:
answered 12 to 15
12-15 : 2person
16-18 : 5 people
Male 16 to 18
19-25 : 4 person
25-30 : 3person
Female 19 to 25
30+ : 1people
25 to 30
3. What aspect of a thriller film do you most enjoy?
over 30
The Plot/ Storyline : 4 people
Action scenes : 1 people
What Aspect Is Best The Plot/
The Suspense Created : 7 people
Violence : 2 person
Storyline
Multiple Plots : 1 people
4. How often do you watch thrillers? Action
Everyday : 0 people
Scenes
Once a week : 3people The
Once a month : 6 people
Suspence
Created
Rarely : 6 people Violence
Never : 0 person
Multiple
Plots
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8. Audience member profile
Enjoys watching thrillers and
horrors
15-25year old
Likes to go to the cinema
for a social occasion as well
Enjoys a pizza as to watch the film.
take away.
Casual dress
Shops in high-street
Quite a laid back personality
brands
Studies or works hard Goes to watch the football
with friends and plays
computer games
Using my research I was able to create a client profile on what the average film goer
is like. I used the interview and the questionnaires to get an idea on their age gender
and as knowing the person I interviewed the traits of the person as well.
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