Research
We have looked on certain movie specific websites to gather information about what spaces there are in market for our film. These are our results.
Amazon - What people are buying
On the popular shopping website Amazon, it clearly shows that right now "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" (2013) (which is a horror film based upon a fairytale, much like our first idea), is number 1 on the Best Sellers in Horror chart.
Seeing this made us think that fantasy-horror films are beginning to get more popular with the horror audience, which is why we first came to the decision to do a type of film like this. The film "Mama" (2013) is number 5 on the Best Sellers in Horror chart which is a paranormal film, therefore showing that this type of film is also becoming more popular. Due to this we decided that there would be a gap in the market for a similar film. SS |
IMDb - What people are rating
We looked on IMDb to see what the experts say on the Most Popular Horror Feature Films. "Mama" (2013) is sixth on the chart and this shows that horrors surrounded by nature genre is getting more popular. This is good news for us as this fits our specific genre meaning that our teaser trailer would be going into a thriving market. Although it is vampire based, "Vampire Academy" (2014) is first on the list, it could also be related to cannibalism. This shows that there is quite a lot of interest in this type of horror film.
Due to the rankings, according to IMDb, we have found that there is a market available for our teaser trailer to go into and therefore we have confidence that it will be well received. Furthermore, it shows that the marketing behind such films is currently very strong - something that is important for when we create our poster and magazine cover. In addition it also shows that the red connotations of the genre are still as strong as ever. DS/JH |
Love Film - What people are renting
We also looked at DVD rental website, Love Film. According to Love Film's most watched DVD guide, within the horror section, we found that 'Mama' (2013) was in the top 10 meaning that our chosen sub genre still starting to make a big impact on audiences. Therefore, as it was the only one, we can see that there is a gap in the market for another film that is similar.
The fact that audiences are starting to re-gain interest in this market area means that we can be confident in the genre we have chosen. DS/JH |
Metacritic - What people are rating
We looked at Metacritic to see what kind of scores have been given to a couple of our inspirations.
The film "Mama" (2013) received a score of 57, which is just over half. This shows that the market is open to film of a higher quality and audiences are looking for something more. Therefore, there is room in the market for our film to be released. SS/DS |
BBFC - How the industry is rating
BBFC (British Board of Film Classifications) is the council which decides the rating a film must be released under, as well as drawing up age rating guidelines.
During our research stage we looked at the two age ratings that were open to us, 15 and 18. Our product would have to fit into one of these categories because, by nature, horror is classically gruesome. A rating 15 declares that a film can contain violence throughout the product but this must not "dwell on the infliction of pain or injury". They also say that the strongest of gory images would not be deemed as acceptable under this ratings umbrella. This also applies to any references of the same nature. Therefore we had to look at the higher age rating of 18. From to this research into age ratings we have rated our trailer an 18 because Cannibalistic themes naturally feature strong images of 'strong blood and gore' would be prevalent. Furthermore we could not justifiably fit the suggestive ideas given in the trailer under the 15 rating's codes. Also, we found that trying to fit into the lower age rating stifled the nature of our teaser trailer. DS/SS |
Google Trends - What people are enjoying
We looked on Google Trends to see how popular cannibal films are. This picture shows us that the opinion and popularity of cannibal films surged in June 2012, however it has more recently declined. This means that there is a gap in the market for a new cannibal film.
This pictures shows us how popular horror films have been over the past 9 years. This shows a huge spike of interest since 2008, seen from the line on the graph rising. Also each year there is a large interest in the films before they suddenly drop again. The fact that the graph ended very high is good news for us as this shows that people are still interested in horror films. DS/SS |
CANNIBAL RATINGS
HORROR RATINGS
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Box Office Guru - How profitable films are (opening weekend)
Box Office Guru ranks movie releases by how much they make in the box office, normally over their opening weekend.
This chart shows what the top 20 films received on the weekend of the 13-15th of September. As you can see, only two of the films on this list are horror films which show that on this weekend, the genre of horror wasn't very popular. However the two films that are on here, did quite well. "Insidious Chapter 2" (2013) made $40,272,103 and "The Conjuring" (2013) made $599,269. The two films are at completely different ends of the spectrum. SS |
Box Office Mojo - How profitable films are (long term)
Box Office Mojo allows users to see how profitable films have been in their opening weekend and it's gross profit over its lifetime. This can be done through using sub-genres to pinpoint exact film matches.
Research on Mojo shows that, within the top 10, none directly match our pitched horror sub genre. However, ranking 19th, Mama (2013) features. Although on its opening weekend it made significantly more than films such as Paranormal Activity(2007) and The Ring(2002) it ranks lowly due to it's current 'lifetime' gross profit. These are explained because it is so 'young' within the film industry. This does, however, mean that our trailer will be going into a market that is waiting for something new and innovative, whilst knowing that it is likely to be well received. Since 18th January (US release date) the film has made €71 million. DS |