The audience for my final graduate project, I am aiming toward the adult market, preferably 18+. This is due firstly to the fact that films with a similar genre, storyline and premise have been certified 18 such as Bronson, Legend, Drive and a couple other examples. See table below:
From this research, I looked further into film classification, and what features made the films rating be ramped up from a 12 to an 18. This involved 'mild' cases of violence, drug use or swearing turn to 'moderate', i.e. a punch up in a film between two boys over a girl which ended up with bloody knuckles and a bloody nose, could be construed as a 12A possibly pushing on a 15, however if you add a knife to the scenario, and the usage of a few profanities, then the rating immediately gets increased significantly.
Looking into film classification companies such as the BBFC, the decision is relying on such factors as follows:
From this research, I looked further into film classification, and what features made the films rating be ramped up from a 12 to an 18. This involved 'mild' cases of violence, drug use or swearing turn to 'moderate', i.e. a punch up in a film between two boys over a girl which ended up with bloody knuckles and a bloody nose, could be construed as a 12A possibly pushing on a 15, however if you add a knife to the scenario, and the usage of a few profanities, then the rating immediately gets increased significantly.
Looking into film classification companies such as the BBFC, the decision is relying on such factors as follows:
- Very strong violence - In Legend in the final scenes before Reggie's arrest, he violently stabs Jack McVitie, in excess of 20 times, The lack of backing music or sound amplifies the horror on screen.
- Frequent strong language and/or very strong language - Often used in extremely violent situations to amplify the danger of the depicted character.
- Strong Portrayals of Sexual Activity - Despite the legal age being 16, films shouldn't seen to be encouraging casual sex.
- Scenes of Sexual Violence - In Legend, Reggie is implied to attack Frances physically and sexually, however the absence of this on screen makes it more uncomfortable. In Stuart: A Life Backwards, the director combines self harm, with violence, with arson, and the possibility of sexual violence. This represents his outcry for help and reveals the severity of his mental illness.
- Strong Horror
- Strong blood and gore - If carried out correctly during a fight scene, can add to the horror on-screen, for example in Bronson where he illegally fights underground and gets beaten till blood is drawn, or similarly in Drive, where character Blanche has a slow motion shotgun blow to the head.
- Real Sex (in some circumstances)
- Discriminatory language and behaviour - Relating to racism and prejudice against ethnic minorities. Due to the illegal nature of this discrimination, it should never be seen as acceptable on-screen, and therefore is always limited at certificate 18.
In terms of my film, I feel I should class it somewhere around the 15 to 18 mark. In terms of specific audience, I intend my piece to be mainly have a male interest, 18+ due to the characters and subject, also due to the films I've looked at. I do not intend on having bloody violence, however the intent will be featured, alongside frequent strong language and the use of drugs and substances, I feel either of these certificates could be suitable. I will revisit this in my final reflection to see if this was a fair certification. Baring in mind it could significantly change from pre production to the final stages of my project.
STUART HALL
In order to develop an understanding of my audience, I looked into the theory of encoding and decoding images and meaning in shots in order to enhance my story and possibly leave the ending open for future development. I looked into theorist Stuart Hall in order to get a better concept of this. His views circulated around the view that the meaning is not fixed by the sender, and similarly the audience is not simply a passive participant when receiving the text.
The meaning is 'encoded' into the film/image by the producer, of which then needs to be 'decoded' by the audience. This is important as layers of story and plot can be revealed through a simple facial expression which can relate to something in a previous film or chapter. The meaning can be decoded by the audience in relation to their personal background, which makes it slightly harder to create a solid meaning to a film, as everyone will interpret the production differently.
In terms of my storyline, I have a significant amount of features about the characters which will have to be understood by the audience without saying "this is what's happening" outright. An aim I have is to produce something which every time you watch, will reveal new information about the characters.
JICNAR SCALE
Joint Industry Committee for National Readership
Using the JICNAR scale to find my audience, I looked into each specific category in order to gain an understanding of the type of productions each group indulges in. Frequently in each group there are exceptions to the general majority. This is all relative to upbringing and background of the people within each group.
For example A grade is Upper Middle-Class, of which look toward plays, theatre, documentaries and news supplements for their entertainment.
B and C1 are classified together, representing Middle and Lower-Middle Class, of which would stay mainly on channels such as BBC and ITV, and furthermore on prime time TV due to their 9-5 work schedule.
C2, D are similar in the sense that they are more manual workers, such as everyday, possibly majority shift work, so typically their intake would revolve around ITV and E4, however more of the series based programmes such as The Only Way Is Essex, and Celebrity Juice, more entertainment based.
Finally, group E, pensioners and the elderly have a similar category to the A group due to their age generation. Watching potentially prime-time telvision, as well as documentaries, or stage shows.
A flaw in this scale is that it is based upon job, and therefore personal interests can be completely different to the proposed stereotypes. Every group is based on majority and not on their personal interests, so this is subject to change.
For my short TV style webisodes, I think I would be looking at the C2/C1 groups or find a middle ground between the two. I've already targeted my demographic to be between 18 and 30 roughly, however it completely depends on their personal interests and the types of programmes they already indulge in. Due to its series style nature, I would plan to have them released after a similar programme once a week i.e. after each episode. Potential new series it could tag after include Luther, of which has a strong crime, dark humour, English theme/genre. Therefore the audience would be more receptive and product specific. This is a key feature of advertising new TV shows, especially after prime-time slots during the week.
STUART HALL
In order to develop an understanding of my audience, I looked into the theory of encoding and decoding images and meaning in shots in order to enhance my story and possibly leave the ending open for future development. I looked into theorist Stuart Hall in order to get a better concept of this. His views circulated around the view that the meaning is not fixed by the sender, and similarly the audience is not simply a passive participant when receiving the text.
The meaning is 'encoded' into the film/image by the producer, of which then needs to be 'decoded' by the audience. This is important as layers of story and plot can be revealed through a simple facial expression which can relate to something in a previous film or chapter. The meaning can be decoded by the audience in relation to their personal background, which makes it slightly harder to create a solid meaning to a film, as everyone will interpret the production differently.
In terms of my storyline, I have a significant amount of features about the characters which will have to be understood by the audience without saying "this is what's happening" outright. An aim I have is to produce something which every time you watch, will reveal new information about the characters.
JICNAR SCALE
Joint Industry Committee for National Readership
Using the JICNAR scale to find my audience, I looked into each specific category in order to gain an understanding of the type of productions each group indulges in. Frequently in each group there are exceptions to the general majority. This is all relative to upbringing and background of the people within each group.
For example A grade is Upper Middle-Class, of which look toward plays, theatre, documentaries and news supplements for their entertainment.
B and C1 are classified together, representing Middle and Lower-Middle Class, of which would stay mainly on channels such as BBC and ITV, and furthermore on prime time TV due to their 9-5 work schedule.
C2, D are similar in the sense that they are more manual workers, such as everyday, possibly majority shift work, so typically their intake would revolve around ITV and E4, however more of the series based programmes such as The Only Way Is Essex, and Celebrity Juice, more entertainment based.
Finally, group E, pensioners and the elderly have a similar category to the A group due to their age generation. Watching potentially prime-time telvision, as well as documentaries, or stage shows.
A flaw in this scale is that it is based upon job, and therefore personal interests can be completely different to the proposed stereotypes. Every group is based on majority and not on their personal interests, so this is subject to change.
For my short TV style webisodes, I think I would be looking at the C2/C1 groups or find a middle ground between the two. I've already targeted my demographic to be between 18 and 30 roughly, however it completely depends on their personal interests and the types of programmes they already indulge in. Due to its series style nature, I would plan to have them released after a similar programme once a week i.e. after each episode. Potential new series it could tag after include Luther, of which has a strong crime, dark humour, English theme/genre. Therefore the audience would be more receptive and product specific. This is a key feature of advertising new TV shows, especially after prime-time slots during the week.
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