Research into audience

Film classification

The British board of film classification known as the 'BBFC' are the independent company which give the UK films their age rating. After a film is finished its final edit, the production company will  have the film rated by the 'BBFC' in order for it to premiere in cinemas. These age rating provide an age that a viewer has to be in order to see the film in a cinema. These classifications are:

Classification	Violence	Sexual content	Nudity	Language	Horror	Drugs	Discrimination
U	Mild	Unacceptable	Partial infrequent	Infrequent + mild	Mild but reassuring outcome	Anti-drugs / very infrequent references	Unacceptable
PG	Mild	References are allowed but infrequent	Allowed with no sexual content	Infrequent + mild	Allowed but short + infrequent	Anti-drugs / very infrequent references	Unacceptable
12A	Moderate but infrequent gore	Moderate refences + activity allowed	Allowed with mild sexual content	Strong + infrequent	Moderate threat but infrequent	Infrequent but not endorsed	Allowed but not promoted by film
12	Moderate but infrequent gore	Moderate refences + activity allowed	Allowed with mild sexual content	Strong + infrequent	Moderate threat but infrequent	Infrequent but not endorsed	Allowed but not promoted by film
15	Strong but infrequent on infliction	Strong references + small detail on activity	No restriction if nonsexual	Strong + frequent	Strong	Allowed but not endorsed	Strong themes allowed but not endorsed
18	Strong violence and gore allowed	All sexual content allowed	All nudity allowed	Strong	Strong	Allowed + endorsed	Allowed

Audience grouping

Media audiences are either grouped through Psychographics or Demographics. Psychographics are based upon opinion and personal preferences so are less factual. Demographics are based upon facts and more physical and external factors about a person. Audience are put into groups based on the information below:

Psychographics

• Preferences - What the audience like 
• Life style - Attitude towards life
• Ideologies - Opinions towards philosophy
• Personality - Type of people the audience are 

Demographics

• Age - Life stage
• Gender - What gender they classify themselves as
• Class - How wealthy the audience are
• Religion - What beliefs the audience have
• Sexuality - Sexual preference the audience have
• Ethnicity - Race & background of the audience
• Geographical location - Where the audience's live
• NRS social grade - class of jobs the audience have (explained below)

NRS social grade

Social grades are also used in order the classify the class and income band of the audience. They were introduced 50 years ago in order to class people based on occupation. These are:

 

 

Classification	Occupation	Percentage of UK
A	High managerial + Administrative	4%
B	Intermediate managerial + Administrative	23%
C1	Supervisor, junior managerial, administrative	29%
C2	Skilled manual workers	21%
D	Semi / unskilled manual worker	15%
E	Low grade workers, unemployed with benefits	8%

Audience theory

Directors choose whether to market their product to the mass market or niche market. For example, for a movie like 'fast & furious' the mass market is being targeted either by their like for cars and action. Typically the big commercial films will have large budgets trying to appeal to a mass market. On the other hand, smaller budget films like 'The boy who harnessed the wind' are focused more on who they are targeting and why rather than how much money can they earn.

Furthermore, Blumler & Katz are two philosophers and researchers who have theorised the reason behind why audiences consume media. Their theory suggests that there are 4 reasons why a viewer may consume a media text.

Personal identity -  A viewer may choose to watch something as we can identify with it and or relate to it. For example, I may watch the show 'Friday Night Dinner' as the show connotes similar events and themes to which my family does on a Friday evening. 

Information - A viewer might watch something purely for information value. They may want to educate themselves about society in order to shape their knowledge. For example, I am currently reading a book about the psychological side of golf which is providing me information which can help the way I think and play.

Entertainment - Viewers will watch something for enjoyment, relaxation and to fill time. This is the most common reason why media texts are viewed. For me, I am a big marvel fan and will watch the movies multiple times and still be entertained.

Social integration - Viewers may watch something in order to be a part of a group or follow a trend in society. Over lockdown, I watched 'Outer banks' on Netflix after hearing lots about it and wanting to be able to talk to friends about it. 

After researching more into audiences I learned in further detail about how they are grouped. When planning key thriller I will be able to target different demographics and also choose which age rating I would like my thriller to be. Furthermore, learning about Blumler and Katz' theory has enabled me to decide why I might want consumers to watch my thrillers.