Research TaskUK FILM CONSUMPTION

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-2014.pdf

Here is a graph that shows UK cinema

admissions from 1935 – 2013. As you can

see, there was a decline in people

consuming films (at a cinema) which

dropped to around 300 million from

1,000 million. This is a very shocking result as I thought it would

have increased due to cinemas becoming more technically

advanced (such as having 3D & 4D

cinemas).

WHAT IS THE OVERALL TREND IN FILM CONSUMPTION?

Here is a graph about distribution, specifically

cinema admissions. As you can see, people aged 15-24

went to the cinema the most. However, people aged

7-14 didn’t enter the cinema as much. This could be due to the fact that it’s more difficult for them to

get to the cinema and films tend to be rated 15+,

specifically comedy films as they include profanities and

sexual references, which aren’t appropriate for a 7-

14 year old audience.

WHO WATCHES FILMS IN THE UK (AGE, GENDER, OTHER

CHARACTERISTICS)

As you can see in these statistics, men like more action and comedy films, whereas, Women prefer

concert films and PG films.

WHO WATCHES FILMS IN THE UK (AGE, GENDER, OTHER

CHARACTERISTICS)

As you can see in this graph, people younger than 6 have

been under represented. This is because they’re not

included, which is quite strange considering a lot of people under the age of 7 go

to the cinema all the time. People over 45 have also

been under-represented as they’re not included on this

chart.

WHICH AUDIENCE GROUPS ARE UNDER-REPRESENTED IN THE FIGURES?

People watch films in the cinema mainly. I know this because the graph I used in my other slide shows how many people went to the cinema. However, the amount of people going to the cinema has dropped significantly, this could be

due to new websites such as Netflix being introduced meaning less people can be bothered to spend the money

and time to go to the cinema.

People also watch films on DVD and Blu-Ray.

WHERE/HOW DO PEOPLE WATCH FILMS?

As you can see from the table on the left, the most popular films in 2013 were kids films such as Despicable Me 2 and Frozen, however other films such as The Hobbit and Iron

Man 3 were also popular, which are a whole new genre. This shows that children had

a big influence on film popularity as Despicable Me 2 and Frozen are films that are

targeted at a younger audience (as their rated PG).

WHAT TYPE OF FILMS ARE THE MOST POPULAR?

I think that technology makes it a lot easier to view films as you can easily watch films from the comfort of your own home on new sites such as Netflix and Sky Go. It’s extremely convenient to watch films at home on DVD, Blu-Ray or online streaming sites, however this is

making the amount of cinema administrations plummet. This is because it’s a lot cheaper and easier to watch films online or on

DVD/Blu-Ray so people are reluctant to spend (around) £10 to go watch a film. Although it’s a nice idea to go out with your

friends/family to the cinema, it is a pricey trip that isn’t very convenient. Also technology can be used in bad ways, for example to illegally download films, which would affect the film companies badly as they will not be earning money if this is the way people watch their films. Also these days it’s extremely easy to just type in ‘(film name) watch online for free’ and find an abundance of sites that will let you

watch that film ILLEGALLY for free.

WHAT ROLE DOES TECHNOLOGY PLAY IN THE CONSUMPTION OF FILM TODAY?

The audience groups that made the most money were people aged 15-24 as they were the people who went to the

cinema the most. Also most of the movies that did well in the box office were films rated 15 which would fit this

target audience. However, I think that children also helped make the most profit as the most popular films were Despicable Me 2 and Frozen which are targeted at a younger audience, and in the news it was clear that

children were obsessed with these films, so obsessed that they started making merchandise for these films (such as;

plush toys and figurines) as well as selling practically anything they could with Frozen written on it to make even

more profit besides from just the film.

WHICH AUDIENCE GROUPS ARE THE MOST LUCRATIVE?

I think that the best strategy to promote films is adverts, especially TV adverts. This is because people watch TV all the time and you can’t skip the ads. Another good strategy

to promote films is to advertise them on other sites, specifically social media sites such as; YouTube and

Facebook. YouTube has adverts on their videos as they can pay popular YouTubers (such as Zoella or Danisnotonfire) to have their advert playing at the start of their video, which

the users can’t skip until they’ve seen at least 20 seconds of it. This is a great way of promoting films and I see it all the time, it’s a good strategy as so many people these days use

sites like YouTube and you can pick a specific YouTuber who has a certain target audience to show your film that

may have a similar one. For example, channels on YouTube aimed at kids could be used to promote Frozen.

WHAT STRATEGIES SHOULD BE USED TO PROMOTE FILMS?

I think that technology is very important at the moment as we’re constantly using it for a variety of reasons. Everyone is so caught up in social media sites and staying up to date with the latest phones and apps, however film companies can us this to their advantage. It’s so easy to advertise on social media sites, especially if you’re a conglomerate who is earning a large amount of profit meaning that paying to have their film promoted on a site like Facebook would be nothing to them. Also social media can be used to build up a fan base for new films, for example creating a Facebook

profile for a new film (e.g. The Hunger Games) so that people can comment and engage with that film and share

their thoughts and excitement of this new upcoming film. I think that technology will still be important for many years

to come and it will only continue to develop as we as humans rely on technology for most parts of our everyday

lives.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY NOW AND IN THE FUTURE