Throughout this essay, I will discuss ways in which British films are produced and distributed towards a specific target audience and consider how successful British films are at targeting these audiences. After an all time low of just 54 million cinema admissions in 1984, an institution’s need to capture audiences is growing. With the recent success of ‘Avatar’, by 20th Century Fox, grossing £1,800,000,000, institutions have recently focussed their attention into similar production methods, using technological convergence and synergies as an advantage. I will be focussing on Working Title, a part conglomerate British film producer partnered with Universal Studios, and Vertigo Films, an independent British film producer that has had recent success and is currently funded by its own revenue.
Working Title produced The Boat that Rocked, a period comedy film, with a mid-range budget of £32 million, assisted in funding by Universal Studios. The film targeted mainly older audiences of 40-60 years old, in particular males, who would enjoy the 1960s period plot, where they would remember it from their childhood, but also targeted younger audiences of 15-18 who may enjoy the comedy genre of the film (the film had an age rating of 15). The particular male target audience is evident as the film contains many masculine themes, including sexual references, drugs and rock music, and the film cast a majority of male actors, such as Bill Nighly, a frequent actor for Working Title films, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, an actor that often stars in action films that may appeal to males. Many of Working Title’s films target American audiences, as a large amount of revenue is often generated abroad. Many American audiences enjoy a positive representation of Britain and therefore, many of these aspects are evident throughout The Boat that Rocked. A stereotypical representation of the government being ‘evil’ and upper classed is used in the film, where each member of the government wears dark, smart clothing and glasses, contrasting with the bright, colourful clothing that the DJs wear, linking to the comedy genre. Also, Philip Seymour Hoffman may have been used as a main character as he is American, and his unique representation may appeal to many people in the target audience, in particular, other American audiences. In targeting a more niche audience with The Boat that Rocked, many production methods were used in filming and editing that would appeal to these audiences. Two digital cameras were used during filming in tight spaces on the boat to ensure that a particular chaotic effect was created, which may appeal to this target audience and may make the film more interesting. In addition, few special effects were used, as they would have significantly increased the budget, and instead, filming took place on an actual ship in the North Sea, creating some filming difficulties, especially with cinematography, but creating a realistic effect that should be more appealing to most audiences. Furthermore, many scenes were filmed with actors improvising on set, so that the script was not particularly important, again creating a more realistic and entertaining experience that may appeal to the target audience. During editing, synergies were used, particularly with the soundtrack, in order to make the film more interesting and entertaining. Due to the 1960s period that the film was based around, and due to the significance of rock music at this time, many soundtracks, such as ‘The Beach Boys’ were used during many scenes, appealing to the target audience who may remember the music of the time and find enjoyable, and linking to the comedy genre of the film that younger audiences may find attractive.
Similarly, Vertigo films often targets specific audiences of films. With the relatively low budgets that Vertigo began with from being an independent institution, the majority of their films are very niche, targeting these specific target audiences as funding would not allow them to expand. The majority of films tended to be focused on crime, mystery or horror genre films, such as The Football Factory, with a budget of only £500,000, which could be produced on the low budget without requiring many visual effects, but could still produce an entertaining media product: The Football Factory grossed £300,000 (over half of the budget) on its opening weekend, without large scale blanket distribution. Contrasting with this pattern, Vertigo recently began production of Streetdance 3D, moving towards a slightly more ‘mass market’, but still requiring to target specific audiences. An increased budget is evident from the production methods used for the film, allowing Vertigo to target a younger audience of 12 to 16 year olds, particularly females who may enjoy a Dance genre of film. Some filming and editing techniques have been used that consider the young target audience. Streetdance 3D was filmed in 3D IMAX, where the maximum possible quality is available ensure that the film is more exciting. Being filmed in 3D also creates a unique selling point for the film, which younger age groups will enjoy due to its interactivity. Cast members were also chosen in accordance with the young target audience, using young dance groups such as ‘Diversity’, made famous by British television-it is also evident here that Vertigo aims more towards a British audience than Working Title, using famous British actors that may appeal more to a young British audience than an American one.
Distribution and marketing are also both important factors that determine the success of a film. Due to Working Title’s relatively large marketing and distribution budget, due to its partnership with Universal Studios, distribution of The Boat that Rocked was on a large scale. Due to this budget, it was able to distribute films to America, where a large percentage of the target audience would consume the film. It was first distributed to multiplex cinemas with film reels, rather than through digital distribution as the majority of cinemas are currently non-digital (it can cost up to £3000 to upgrade a single cinema screen). The film’s box office revenue was only £23 million, however it may be argued that the film was more successful on DVD, where it rose to a 4 out 5 ranking on Amazon. Within this target audience, many older audiences are likely to own a blu-ray player. With the high distribution budget from Universal Studios, the film was also distributed onto blu-ray disc, which may be more appealing for this older audience who may also own a large HD TV, and may be more likely to purchase the product. The film was also digitally distributed onto iTunes for £10.99. With easy access to the internet for this target audience, it is important to make the film available to download, as piracy issues can conflict with revenues, and the audience is more likely to purchase the film and watch it in higher quality than download it illegally, as long as it is available to them to purchase. Particular marketing techniques were also used to target a specific audience. As an older audience is more likely to have more money available to them than younger audiences, many of these people will own a modern phone, such as an iPhone. An app for the iPhone was designed to stimulate audience interest in the film, which contained a synopsis and various trailers as well as a ‘Top Trumps’ style card game, available as a free download to users-this had a rating of 3 out of 5 on user comments, and would have therefore been relatively successful. The film was also marketed using Spotify music playlists and trailers, which may have aimed towards a younger audience due to the availability of free music and the large usage of Spotify among teenagers who the film may appeal to.
The marketing of Streetdance 3D was similarly important to target its younger audience. Both the teaser trailer and the theatrical trailer are very focused on the 3D element of the film, and are both 3D and viewable online, through video hosting sites such as YouTube, where a large percentage of the target audience will spend a lot of their time and may already own 3D glasses from watching a previous 3D film. Technological convergence on the internet, especially with social networking sites like Facebook, has allowed Vertigo to spread awareness of the film and their trailers through free, viral marketing. These websites can be commented on by other members of the target audience, influencing others to go and see the film, and blogs and fan-sites also raise awareness of the film and create audience anticipation. A highly interactive official website has also been designed to stimulate audience interest, for which younger audiences will find more exciting than a simpler website. The release date of the film has been set at May 2010, around the time of the school half term holidays, when teenagers that the film may appeal to will be available to see the film.
Targeting specific audiences is a very important element determining the success of a film. Production, distribution and marketing varies depending on the target audience and the genre of the film, and with the steady decrease in cinema admissions in the UK, down to 164 million in 2009, from 175 million in 2003, making films appeal to specific audiences is increasingly important as different demographics have different preferences.
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