Questionnaire results and analysis.

Planning on a pre-production level requires ample research of the widest range and quality.

1 - Gender.

As you can see the majority of the people we tested were female, this was mainly an accident, although from studying the horror genre we already know a lot more about the predominately male audience, so this was a blessing in disguise.

2 - Age ranges.

This graph shows the rages of age we did, and what sex they were. The younger audience was the target audience we were going for, although the war theme may appeal to older individuals too. These visual representation of our results make it easier to make sense of the questions they answered differently. It shows there is a wide age range being tested, which is ideal.

3 - Horror Genre.

This result shows what main horror genre the people we tested are looking for, as you can see the psychological horror came out top. This could be to do with the age range, but it was reflected in our trailer as that's the main genre we tried to reflect.

4 - Cinema visits.

After establishing what films individuals would watch, a good idea would be to find out how many times a typical audience with our film in mind would visit the cinema. As you can see monthly is the predominant frequency, and although this may not seem like much, no body and almost no body said fortnightly.

5 - Budgeting (Female).

This graph shows you how many females prefer high budget films, and the answer is around 75%. With a low budget yet polished and well thought out idea in mind, this wasn't a result we took into account.

6 - Budgeting (Male).

It's the same graph as above yet different results. The majority of males tested say they prefer the mainstream high budget hollywood films to indie films by companies such as film 4.

7 - How our test subjects hear about films.

A good trailer and word of mouth (a good review) is the 2 most important things our audience find enticing. Posters and billboards also make a slight different. These are classic results when it comes to establishing a target audience, and considering a viral ad campaign with the trailer would provide a good combo.

Silent Hill - Story board.

This is a brief story board focused around the trailer for the film, silent hill.

Silent Hill - Story board.

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Buried: The plot.

A man wakes up in a coffin to find only darkness; with only a lighter and a mobile phone screen to light the musky tomb, he comes to the realization he's trapped. A film totally focused around a man trapped in a box seems like a risky idea, but during entrapment he encounters various nightmares. Contacting people via video message and phone is one of the main aspects of the film, I'd go as far as saying its a glorified orange mobile advertisement. On one occasion a snake enters the coffin. This is more of a dark suspense thriller than a horror, but the increasing anger and proximate chlostrophobia make this film a tense watch.

Spain/USA
Rodrigo Cortes
Cert: 15

Film distribution.

Distribution = Marketing and duplication + Getting it into cinema's.

The most important things to consider when distributing film:

1 - Who? Who are the audience? You can find this out with preview screenings, 1st and 2nd hand research etc).

2 - When? The date of the distribution and release play a large part (I.e. School holidays for kids films, horror at October due to DVD's at christmas and Halloween.)

3 - How? Viral or high media attention/advertising?



Film distribution is a mix of strategic and tactical planning. Promotion and the release are all closely tied in, in order to create the biggest hits and sales at initial screenings. When a film is released on a friday, the weekend sales usually dictate whether the film is a success or not thus proving the succsess of the distribution company.


There are two types of distribution company, the large ones like:

Sony
MGM
Disney
Warner Brothers

These companies have in house production arms, that create films to distribute themseleves.

The other type of distribution company are the indie ones such as:

Lionsgate
Metrodome
Momentum

These companies go shopping at film festivals such as Cannes to buy films at negotiable prices. They usually make money from ticket sales. These companies dont have production wings but purchase the films to market themselves.



A large job film distributors have to do is identity a Unique selling point and link it in with the audience in the correct manner. These can be anything from the ape in King Kong or the aliens in Alien. The genre, and the cast can also be considered as a USP. A film with a famous cast are more likely to pull in an audience.

The most profitable audience to target is the 15-24 age group, dominated by males. That is why the biggest and most lucrative genre in film is action/adventure.


Synergy is another important thing to consider when marketing a film. Trailers, tv interview, mobile, PR, Posters, Radio, magazines etc etc are all ways of getting information to a mass audience.

Marketing steps.


1) Posters

2) Trailer - Argued the most important part of a media campaign. Two types, teaser and the full length, often include text anchorage (copy text). Release dates, actors, title.

3) Multimedia - Site, games, viral.

4) P.R. - Free editorial content.

5) Reviews. - Tracking public awareness, and sending your film to the dogs.


Word of mouth is something you cant control, but it is very important. (See paranormal activity).

Hostel Trailer

Gender representation in horror.

In horror films women are considered the victims of sexually driven murderous antagonists. This is justified in almost everyfilm in the horror genre. Films such as Scream, Friday the 13th, Hostel 2 etc etc all prove that the sexually active teen girl will die by the end of the film, where as the not so good looking "underdog" will survive.