Audience

The Statistical Yearbook states that in 2011, the total size of the UK film audience was estimated to be 5.1 billion people. There were 87 film viewing occasions per person in 2011 (excluding those who are very

young) - this is an average of just over 7 films per month. However, interestingly the majority of these films were viewed on television (77%) and the least amount were viewed in the cinema (3.4%). This could possibly be evidence of the types of people that are watching films or it could be evidence of convergence. In terms of age, the Statistical Yearbook clearly indicates that the age of people attending the cinema is beginning to level out (see chart above). In 1997, the 15-24 age category had the majority of cinema-goers and although that stayed the same in 2011, the 45+ age category has began to catch up with it. 31% of 15-24 year olds and 28% of 45+ year olds attended the cinema in 2011 - therefore clearly conveying the 'leveling-out' of the audience. Additionally, the 25-34 and 35-44 age category have also become quite similar as they had 21% and 20% of cinema-goers in 2011.

Their recent report 'Opening Our Eyes' revealed that there was 'a strong support for British film and filmmaking amongst the British public with comparatively minor variations across age, gender and ethnicity.'

From the table to the left, I can conclude that male cinema-goers are more likely to watch action films like 'Senna', '127 Hours' and 'Captain America'. Conversely, females are more likely to watch films like 'Jane Eyre', 'One Day' and 'Bridesmaids' - perhaps suited for a more female audience. On the other hand, films like the final 'Harry Potter' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' had a more mixed audience base. This is a clear demonstration of how films are perhaps created and marketed towards a certain gender so that the target audience is very specific. 

Evidently, the table to the right conveys which audiences are suited to which film due to the socio-economic background. AB audiences are at the top end - films such as 'The King's Speech' and 'Jane Eyre' - perhaps this is an indication that films with a more educational/historical background are for an audience with a higher status. Conversely, films such as 'Johnny English Reborn' and 'Fast and Furious 5' are made for a DE audience - on the lower end of the spectrum. 

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How have the audience been constructed for two films?

Disney's Wreck-It Ralph is an animation film made by the Walt Disney Animation Studios in America. The age of the audience would be children under 14 (below the Statistical Yearbook's age figures) and possibly the 25-44 age category. This is because younger children who go to see this film would go with their parent/guardian. One can tell that this film is aimed primarily at a younger audience for many reasons. Firstly, Walt Disney Animation Studios have made other films for children such as Tangled, Winnie the Pooh and Bolt - this suggests that this film would follow their recent animation trends and be for children. Additionally, Disney is conventionally associated with children and children's films - further suggesting that this film is for children. In terms of the actual film, it is about video game characters; this ultimately suggests that is is for the under 14 age category because they are more likely to spend time playing video games as opposed to adults (who lead busier lives and generally don't play as many video games). Similarly, a character in the film 'Fix-It Felix Jr' was one of the most popular 2D platform games ever . It was launched in 1982 - meaning that parents who go to see the film might recognise this character from their childhood. This indicates that Disney wanted to include characters that a younger audience will understand and characters that the parents/guardians will understand. 

The website features simple sections that indicate that the audience must be of a younger age. Characters, Games, Videos and Gallery are 4  simple sections that parents will be able to easily guide their children to so they will be able to play on the website. The simple fonts, colours and layout all suggest that this film is for a younger audience because younger children could still be learning how to read or use the computer (so this simple design is easier for them to navigate).

Significantly, in terms of gender this film could lean more towards a male based audience but there are a lot of areas that would appeal to a female audience. It could be said that the male audience will stereotypically enjoy the video game concept of this film because it is young boys that conventionally play video games. On the other hand, the 'Sugar Rush' game characters - Taffyta Muttonfudge and The Glitch - could appeal to a female audience because of their 'candy' filled, pink and light green setting. The poster (seen below) is a good demonstration of how Disney attempts to

appeal to both audiences - one section has saturated, light, 'girly' colours and the other is similar to a typical male action game. From this poster, one might suggest that Ralph is seen as a character that both male and female cinema-goers will enjoy because he is 'breaking through' the divide between them and he is the focal point of the poster as he's in the middle. When referring back to the Statistical Yearbook, one notices that the only animation film mentioned is The Smurfs. This film was most popular among females (62%)  and 7-14 year olds (42%). Overall, this suggests that this film could appeal to a male audience in this age range. 

The film Gnomeo and Juliet appeared in the AB socio-economic statistics for 2011 with 34% of the film's audience being more top end. So, one could propose that as Wreck-It Ralph is also an animation film, it could match Gnomeo and Juliet and fall under the AB category. Moreover, on the website there

is a 'Shop' section; this could possibly mean that they are targeting their film at a wealthier audience so that they can buy their products. Conversely, the advert below this tab juxtaposes this in a way because the audience can win a 'Samsung Galaxy Note II' - this would appeal to an audience with a lower socio-economic status because they might not be able to afford the phone normally.

I believe that people who watch Wreck-It Ralph will largely be children who are still in school due to the Game theme of the film being aimed at their age. In light of this, the audience may not yet have fully formed values/ideas that they believe in. This film could teach them about the concept of right vs wrong and good vs bad.

Columbia Picture's Skyfall is the 23rd James Bond film to be released. I predict that the age range for this film would largely the 15-44 age category. It wouldn't be lower than this as much because the film is rated a 12A - therefore parents might not allow their children/teenagers to go and see the film if they are 12-14 and if they're younger they won't be allowed in the screening. One can tell that this film is aimed at this age category for many reasons; the first being the monochromatic colour scheme on the website.

The black, white and grey colours are more sophisticated which aid the more adult themes in the film. Similarly, the language used on this site - "consideration", "theatres" and "corporation" - are all fairly complex in their denotations. "Theatres" isn't a common word used nowadays for the cinema but older generations of adults might tend to use this word as opposed to "cinema". Therefore, the film is clearly made for an older audience. What's more the logo of the film (007) has the image of a gun on it. This symbol is repeated in the film poster where James Bond is holding a gun. One could suggest that the use of violence and action in this film would deter many younger cinema-goers (and their parents/guardians) from allowing them to go and see it.

Immediately one assumes that this film is predominantly for a male audience due to the action genre and James Bond's "cool" character appealing to males. Traditionally, the females that appear in his films are overly sexualised to appeal to men; this wouldn't appeal to women due to the possible negative emotions that they might feel towards the model-like actresses. From an early age boys are taught that action scenes and action characters are "cool" and that they should look up to them - hence this film would appeal more to a male audience. When referring back to the Statistical Yearbook, one notices that action films such as Mission Impossible and Fast and Furious were popular amongst males - 77% and 67% of these film's audiences were males. Crucially, these films are of a very similar genre to Skyfall so it could be fair to say that it can be compared to them in terms of audience.

Two action films - Fast and Furious and Johnny English Reborn - were both classed as having a DE socio-economic status with 28% of both film's audience being of this status. This suggests to one that the film could appeal to this audience type. However, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy had 47% of it's audience being an AB socio-economic status. One believes that this film leans more towards the AB category (the top end) because the website's first tab is the Awards. Essentially, a cinema-goer with a higher regarded socio-economic status would be more interested in the Awards the film has won due to it being a prestigious film. Therefore, the web designers have placed the Awards tab first on the navigation bar in order for the AB audience member to be able to navigate more easily to that page.

It is hard to determine what the audience's characteristics and values might be for this film due to the wide age range of people who it is made for. One might suggest that they have an interest in plots, schemes and violence because James Bond is based on these concepts. However, some might interpret this interest in a negative light, when in reality most audience members will find this interesting because it is in contrast to their personality and lifestyle.

Summit Entertainment's The Perks of being a Wallflower is aimed at teenagers over the age of 13. One decided this due to the age rating of the film; it's PG13 because of the "mature thematic material drug and alcohol use, sexual content including references, and a fight - all involving teens". The film itself involves a cast of somewhat stereotypical teenagers - therefore appealing to a teenage audience because they can relate to the characters.  What's more, on their "Fan Testimonials" section of the website they have multiple testimonials from teenagers writing about how it "really translated to [their] everyday life in High School". Thus, the teenage audience is further shown. Much like the Hobbit website, this site is highly interactive and allows the audience to create their own poster - another sign that this is for a younger audience and not for adults because adults don't tend to have as much time to create posters and play online games as children/teenagers. 

One doesn't think that this film is directed at a particular gender for many reasons. The first is that the main character is a boy (Charlie) whose best friend has died and he's experiencing his first love of a girl (Sam). This narrative could appeal to either audience because males can sometimes relate to how Charlie is feeling and females can relate to how Sam is feeling. Both of these cross over also because the male and female audience can get an insight to what the other person would be feeling in this situation. Additionally, this still taken from the "Gallery" on 

the website clearly conveys a party scene whereby males and females could relate. In a modern day society, it is males and females that host and attend parties so this would be easily relatable for the audience.  In addition to this, the film poster is fairly basic and doesn't appeal to a specific gender. The lime green wall is a neutral colour so both males and females could find the film appealing. When this is paired with the black,
slightly distorted serif font, one could suggest that the overall theme of the poster is fairly neutral which helps when trying to appeal to both a male and female audience. Alternatively, it could be suggested that because there are two males and one female on the poster, they are trying to appeal more to females because they are 'looking' for another female to go on the poster. Although this view is very abstract, one might suggest that some audience members might feel this way and possibly be attracted to the film because of it. The BFI 2012 Statistical Yearbook states that The Inbetweeners film had and audience that 67% of people were 15-24 year olds. Clearly, the genre of the films is very different - The Inbetweeners was a comedy - but both films are based on the lives of teenagers. So, one's previous suggestions could be reinforced with this statistic because it could be said that the films have similar audience members.

When looking through the Statistical Yearbook one notices that it is difficult to estimate where this film would be placed in terms of NRS Social Grade. This is mainly because there are no films similar to this one currently in the results table. So, perhaps one could base my estimate on the actress Emma Watson because Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows: part 2 also starred Emma. If this is the case, the film would class as having a higher AB audience share as Harry Potter had 35% of its audience as AB socio-economic members. I do believe that this film could additionally appeal to DE members because of the "mature thematic material" possibly relating to them more due to their different lifestyle. Obviously, this can only be assumed however because this film differs from that of the ones in the Statistical Yearbook.

The audience members for this film would have partially or fully developed views and values due to them being a teenage audience. One might suggest that they have the stereotypical characteristics of a teenager or young adult. They probably have opinions on love, drugs, alcohol and arguments as all of these themes feature in the film.