Secondary Audience Research

For my secondary audience research i have chosen a film which has a similar narrative to mine. As my idea includes paranormal and supernatural activity I have decided to research 'The House At The End Of The Street' this film includes similar aspects to mine. 

This film has been rated a 15 certificate meaning only those who are 15 and above are legally allowed to view the film the cinema or buy/rent it. Therefore, it is targeted to a teenage + audience. This is because the paranormal/ horror theme to the film is most likely to appeal more to a teenage/young adult audience as this particular audience are predicted to immerse themselves more into the story as they would believe in the paranormal aspects whereas an older generation audience such as 45 + would not believe in it. This is shown through the comparable profile of 'The Grudge 2' stating that 58 % of 15-24 years old attended a screening of this film, however ages 25 and above percentages range from only 10 - 16%. 

A film which is rated 15 certificate has to follow certain guidelines, from using the BBFC website I have found that these guidelines include:

• Must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
• Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.
• Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
• Dangerous behaviour e.g. suicide, self-harming etc. can be allowed provided the detail of such is low so that it can not create too much of an impression on the viewer. 
• Abuse of weapons which are easily obtained will not be tolerated. 
• Frequent use of strong language can be permitted, although very strong language needs to be restricted and would need to be seen as reasonable in the context. 
• Nudity in a sexual content must be restricted however nudity in a non-sexual content does not.
• Sexual activity without strong detail would most likely be allowed. Some strong sexual references may be allowed too, but very strong ones may not, unless used within reason.
•  As long as the film is appropriate for 15 year olds then no certain themes are prohibited.
• Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Any sexual violence should be discreet and be strong justified.

As the creator of the film/distributor you would like your film to be given a low enough certificate so that you can have a wide range of different audiences however high enough so that adults will also find your film appealing.

However, due to restrictions from college and the exam board I am unable to use the majority of these guidelines which are allowed in normal 15 certificate rated films due to safety regulations. This means I cannot film; drug use, alcohol use, sexual scenes or references, violence, bad language or real weapons. Therefore, I plan to research how to create my own realistic looking weapons using youtube tutorials or other websites. I will also experiment with different shots and sound effects to imply the violence rather than actually filming it.

When creating my trailer i will also design my own "black card" which will look similar to this;

I will create one of these to make my trailer look as professional as possible. In some films they use a "green card" (shown below) i will not be creating one of these as these are shown usually in American films.

As further research for film classification I used the BBFC website to rate two film trailers, one of which was 'The Awakening', which after watching I decided to rate a 12A which matched the decisions of the BBFC examination board.

Another trailer which I rated was 'Brave'. After watching this trailer I decided to rate it a PG which matched the decisions of the BBFC examination board too.