Research in film industry

RESEARCH INTO THE FILM INDUSTRY Daniella Blow

Daniella Blow

ContentsContents........................................................................................................................................................................1

Types of research.........................................................................................................................................................2

Qualitative research................................................................................................................................................2

Quantative research.................................................................................................................................................2

Methods of research.....................................................................................................................................................3

Primary research.....................................................................................................................................................3

Secondary research.................................................................................................................................................4

Purposes of research.....................................................................................................................................................5

Audience research...................................................................................................................................................5

Market research.......................................................................................................................................................5

Production research.................................................................................................................................................6

Research Methodology.................................................................................................................................................7

Brain Storm:............................................................................................................................................................7

Findings........................................................................................................................................................................8

Most popular actors and actresses...........................................................................................................................8

Secondary research............................................................................................................................................8

Primary research................................................................................................................................................8

Most popular genre.................................................................................................................................................9

Primary research..............................................................................................................................................10

Secondary research..........................................................................................................................................10

3D Films................................................................................................................................................................10



Where people watch films....................................................................................................................................11



Who people are most likely to watch films with..................................................................................................12


How many films people watch a week.................................................................................................................13


When films are released........................................................................................................................................13


Film budgets..........................................................................................................................................................14


Popular films.........................................................................................................................................................15



Top films bought on DVD....................................................................................................................................15


Books being turned into films...............................................................................................................................16



Recommendations......................................................................................................................................................17

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Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................................18

Research is vital for film companies to conduct. Researching into different aspects really lessens the risk of the company losing masses amounts of money. The company has to be confident that the film they make is going to make a profit and also can make the money they spent back. Concludes by researching possible ideas: fans opinions, costs, present day trends, possible competitors, well known actors and actresses is everything plus more they will need to consider creating a film. In the first part of the report I will be discussing the types, methods and purposes of research.

Types of research

Qualitative researchQualitative data focuses on how people feel and what they think. It’s about getting people to talk about their opinions so we can appreciate their emotional state and feelings towards something. (Buisness and IP centre, n.d.) In order to get this information I will conduct a face to face interview with direct communication to someone asking them questions that is relevant to the film industry in the present day. I will gather a handful of people, different ages and genders and ask the same questions to each of them. This type of research can be very valuable when developing new products, or in this case, a film idea that is yet to be released. For example, when a professional, well known film company (lionsgate, warner brothers, Disney) are researching about a film idea, they would get a group of people, and interview them individually to find out more about what they would expect in a new film and what they like in this present day and will focus their new ideas around that. You would be surprised how much other people’s opinions matter and have a great effect on the film company’s final decision. There’s no point creating a film if it’s not going to be a big hit on people. That’s why it is very important for the film company to get other people’s views and opinions and go forward with that information. Another example of qualitative research would also be reviews from newspapers, magazines, online etc. This is when a newspaper is given a film to watch, and then they have to review it in their newspaper, that newspaper then gets read by millions of people who then see the article and will want to watch it, depending on the review. You would carry out qualitative research before conducting a survey to gather quantative research.

Figure 1: film review

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Quantative researchQuantative research is more on the rational side of things and provides a lot of numerical and statistical data of what people think. (Buisness and IP centre, n.d.) This type of research massively uses methods such as surveys and questionnaires with set questions and multiple choices, this allows people to tick the box of what they think. I have created a survey using survey monkey about the film industry (Survey Mokey, n.d.). I think by asking questions about the film industry right now, it will help us create an insight into what is popular right now. Some of the questions can consist of…

-whats your favourite film genre?-why is that genre your favourite?-do you think a film being in 3D makes it better?-where do you tend to watch a movie?-rank these films in order (listed films)-who are you most likely to watch films with?-how many films would you say you watch every week?-who is your favourite actor & actress?

I feel those questions will give the film industry a better idea of the film world and will be a massive help in creating a new film as they can work with the data from this survey. This form of research is great in terms of how its carried out, such as through social media (which is very current to this day and very popular), online or even through your phone which being in the modern day is very easy and doesn’t take that much time at all. Another example of quantative data is also film ratings online, how many views the film got, how much money the film made, how many DVD’s they sold. There are various different film companies which provide this kind of data. The main one is called BFI. This is when the company delivers a lot of statistical information about the box office throughout the years including the amount of money the films made in just weekend from being released. An example would be the newest star wars film that was released in December 17, 2015 and it made £10,304,562 in just one weekend. And from that you can see that maybe because that

was such a successful film, and it is sci-fi we could pick up on some ideas

Figure 2

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from seeing this being such a huge blockbuster success. (wikipedia, n.d.)

Methods of researchPrimary researchPrimary research is something that you go out and collect yourself. Surveys, interviews, observations, participating in an online forum are all examples of conducting primary research. (Haydon Media, n.d.) The main one that will have the best effect on the film industry would be to carry out test screenings. This is something that is really well known and popular in the film industry and it helps the companies out a lot. A great example of this was stated on The Guardian about the Bond film which’s original name was changed due to test screenings. ‘The 1989 film was initially called Licence Revoked, but this was changed after test screenings revealed that US crowds associated the term with driving.´ (The Guardian, n.d.) as it states ‘1989’ is a bit less than 20 years ago but was still a massive part of directing research back then, so the fact were still using it to this day proves it was a fantastic/vital part of primary research and test screenings really do have an impact to the film. There is a very useful and interesting website which states what film was changed due to screenings and also what was changed throughout the film. For example, the length of Titanic was actually dramatically cut down a lot. Even though it is still 194 minutes, 45 minutes had been cut from the original DVD. After the test screening was carried out, James Cameron (director, producer and writer of Titanic) had cut at least ten scenes of the film. One of the scenes included Jacks fight for The Heart of the Ocean as the ship is sinking, and that was due to the audience not thinking Jack would go to all that hassle just for a shiny stone. (The Guardian, n.d.) Therefore I think having a test screening before releasing the film is such a good idea and will help you a lot. If the audience doesn’t like it then you are in great risk of losing money and therefor you need the potential audience to enjoy it and by them giving you feedback is vital. Another way to use primary research in the film industry is to conduct surveys and interviews. They are both very effective as you get other people’s opinions into something. You could ask them a number of questions and they will answer honestly, making it easier to make your decision. A good example of where to create a survey would be on www.surveymonkey.com.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/

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Secondary researchSecondary research involves gathering existing data that has already been formed, so in this case the BFI data I stated above. (Haydon Media, n.d.) They have already created a number of data that I am then able to look at and use myself. Another example

of someone who had done this is MOJO. They have created also a table of data for the most popular films which have made the most money. Last year 2015, states the films that had the total gross the highest. This table is clear to see how much money the film made in total. As you can see the numbers are very high for some films which shows how popular they were compared to the less popular films. ‘Spectre’ which was released October 30th made £47,620,692 (Wikipedia, n.d.) compared to ‘the second best exotic marigold hotel’ (wikipedia, n.d.) Which made £6,635,801. There is a clear difference in the numbers of both of those films. The film producer will then read this data and will decide to rule out something like ‘the second best exotic marigold hotel’ as that film wasn’t very successful and will head to something like Spectre which made a crazy amount of money and will drive them to create something along those lines as it shows it was very popular.

Purposes of researchAudience researchCollecting and analysing information about the target audience for a particular media product, in this case films. An example of audience research would also be test screening. As I have specified above, about the audience having a great effect on the film and what the company decided to change. This is because the film is aimed at that audience, and if that audience are not happy with that, then they are willing to take their feedback on board and change bits they feel they need to follow the test screening. The test screenings tend to be the target audience who are giving the feedback and are given a form to fill out. (Yahoo Movies, n.d.) If there is something stated in a number of peoples feedback sheet, they have no choice but to do what they say because they want their film to be the biggest success it can and need the support of their audience to do so. Without researching the audience the film won’t be as a big hit as they expected as they wouldn’t know whether their audience would enjoy it as they wouldn’t know what that target audience are into in this present day.

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Market research The market in the media industry is very competitive. It is very important that you undertake research into your competitors in this industry as the competition in the film industry is very harsh making the odds of success a lot lower. Another very important factor into conducting market research is what platforms you will be releasing your film. Yet again the film companies will use the information provided by the BFI to research about the film market at that time and will be a great help to them. It has all the information that they need to research the film industry market. For example the ‘UK film sector generated nearly £1.4 billion in exports in 2013, yielding a trade of £916 million.’ (BFI, n.d.) And about tourism linked with films in the UK and out of the £21 billion of tourism spend by overseas visitors to the UK in 2013, an estimated £840 million was made. (BFI, n.d.) Adding to that, an estimated £226 million in merchandise sales in the UK in 2013 and the placement on screens around the globe led to an additional £717 million in turnover for UK companies in 2013. (BFI, n.d.) This was all stated on the BFI documents was on their website. Another section to look at is how many TV programs showed films throughout the year. This is also stated on the BFI documents. “The number of UK films shown on the main TV channels has increased over the last 9 years from 60, to 2002 to 192” (BFI, n.d.). ITV1 and channel 4 are broadcasting more British films (see figure 4). In conclusion, by carrying out market research can really help you know who your competitors are (film, tv programs, audience) and how you can make yours a success by using your knowledge of competitors and market research.

Production researchProduction research is essential when planning to develop a new film. This research will allow you to identify what resources you will need to launch the end product and whether the film would be profitable within the current market. Production is always needed and it focuses on the production of the product. There are lots of things you will need to consider in the production research which include: the cost of your equipment, locations, cast, how long the production will take, accomendation of cast, do you need insurance

Figure 3

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and loads more. You basically need to think of everything you need in making this production happen and thinking about it in great detail and making sure everything is being taken care of, so the costs of everything, the care for the cast, the legal side of things. Without any of the production research being done it will be impossible for you to start the production.

Advantages DisadvantagesQualitative Provides depth

and detail: looks deeper into recording feelings etc.

Creates openness: inspires people to expand on their responces

Less easy to generalise: fewer people are studied, not possible to generalise

Dependent on skills of the researcher: especially with interviews, focus groups.

Quantative personal bias can be avoided by researchers keeping a 'distance' from participating subjects

allow for a broader study, has a greater number of subjects, and enhancing the generalisation of the results

collects narrower data

results are limited as they provide numerical descriptions rather than detailed narrative

Primary Data interpretation is better. The collected data can be inspected and interpreted by the marketers

Recency of Data. secondary data is not so recent and it may not be specific to the place or situation.

High Cost. Collecting data using primary research is costly

Inaccurate Feed-backs. there are high chances that feedback given is not correct.

Secondary Time and Cost effective : Usually time and cost required to collect secondary data is less than primary

Extensiveness of data : Data collected by governments is usually very

Time Lag Issues: Information collected from books, historical surveys are usually not sync with the times and might have changed drastically

Proprietary Issues : Some of

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extensive and covers a large spectrum of issues.

the secondary sources might have copyrighted

Research MethodologyPreceding to producing a film, a production company will have a various amount of things to consider along with everything else. I am going to list below some of the things that they would think about before producing the film and that I will research in a lot of detail.

Brain Storm:

Following from this brain storm I am going to propose the areas I have researched to build up a detailed profile on the film industry to this current day using both primary and secondary research. The categories I wish to research I will gather the data / information from websites online, or my survey and interview I conducted myself. Some aspects like ‘film budgets’ I feel I will not get an accurate enough answer if I mentioned that in my survey and interview as well as I researched it online to find out the specifics. By researching film reviews, I will look online websites, including IMDB, BFI, and The Guardian etc. and read what people’s views on films are. To conduct primary research I will gather up people and interview them, ask them their favourite film, and ask them why it’s their favourite film.

Findings

Most popular actors and actresses. I find this a very important aspect to research. By getting well known, popular actors and actresses in a film, people are much more likely to go and watch it, especially if it is their favourite. It will

Aspects of the film industry

Most popular actors and actresses

Most popular genres

Whether a film being in 3D makes it better

Where people watch movies

Who people are most likely to watch films with

How many films people watch a week?

Popular films

When films are released

Books being turned into films

Top films bought on DVD

Film Budgets

Film reviews

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defiantly have a good effect on the film if we find out who the most popular actors and actresses are at the moment.

Secondary researchI have also directed some secondary research using the internet to find out that information too. From the secondary research I did, I found that in 2015 the most popular and most paid actors were:

- Robert Downey Jr.- Chris Hemsworth- Daniel Craig- Chris Pratt- Tom Cruise- Leonardo Di Caprio

And the most popular actresses (2015)- Jennifer Lawrence- Scarlett Johansson- Angelina Jolie- Melissa McCarthy- Halle Berry- Jennifer Anniston (Cinema Blend, n.d.)

Primary researchI have also conducted some primary research for finding out the most popular actors and actresses by creating a survey and in that survey I included the questions ‘who is your favourite actor?’ and ‘who is your favourite actress?’ The answers to the most popular actors and actresses were near enough similar to what I found online: Actors:

- Bradley Cooper- Leonardo Di Caprio- Tom Cruise- Daniel Craig

Actresses:- Jennifer Lawrence- Angelina Jolie- Cameron Diaz- Jennifer Anniston- Kate Winslet-

Even though they didn’t completely match up, there is a few that were. I can then use this to take into consideration about who I would have in the film due to the public’s opinions in their favourite actors and actresses. It is very obvious that Jennifer Lawrence is a

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big hit now due to her main role in the Hunger Games and since then has featured in a lot of big hit films including: X-Men, Silver Linings, American Hustle. Just from that she is a very big star and young people as well as older people love her and her acting. I think Jennifer Lawrence would be a big hit in your new film and is defiantly something to consider. Following on from that, on the actor side of things, there is a few really popular actors that are working their way up to become an Oscar winner. Chris Hemsworth is one of the main actors of 2015 and had a fantastic year last year and is bringing that with him into 2016. He has been in several amazing films which includes: Thor, Avengers Assemble, Rush, In the Heart of The Sea, The Cabin in the Woods, Star Trek, and Vacation. His most recent film was ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ and was released December 26th, 2015. It is still in cinema now which means he is becoming very popular and would be a great actor to feature in the new film. Also another vital thing in choosing actors and actresses is the looks. It is important they are good looking (which Jennifer and Chris are) because the audience will be a lot more interested, both genders too. Another factor to think about is that Jennifer and Chris haven’t featured in a film together before so people would love to see those working together.

Most popular genre.Again this is a very essential thing to carry out research on. If you are planning to make a film in the future, the genre is the most important thing you need to get right in order for it to be a success. The genre of films is very hard to actually get right because it’s what people are into at the time, for example, Star Wars has just been released and it has been a HUGE hit in the blockbuster world, and if you’re going to be honest, right now no one can compete with another sci-fi film with Star Wars. However, different genres are being made all the time so it doesn’t matter what one you finally pick, there is also going to be other films competing with you at the same time. I thought by finding out the most popular genres in this present day would be interesting and will help the film company a lot,

Primary researchOn my survey, I have added a question asking what genre their favourite is and the outcome was:

1. Comedy2. Action/romance/true stories3. Horror/crime

Those were the top 3 voters, however, Adventure, Drama and Sci-Fi got no votes and were the least popular and you should take that into consideration in these present years as we don’t tend to see those genres being released into the cinema as much.

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Secondary researchI also looked at some secondary research which I found online. (Market Genres, n.d.)I found that there was a table with all the statistics in it and I found it very interesting and useful. The top genre that has been the favourite for over 20 years is comedy which I also found

on my survey. The second most popular one was adventure followed by action etc. By using this could really help the genre to be decided and it is clear to see that comedy is the most successful and popular genre throughout many years so maybe that is something I would take into consideration.

3D FilmsA film being in 3D can really have a great effect on the audience and even the film, but it can also go the other way too when people are not interested in 3D films one bit.

Secondary researchI did some online research to find out more about what people think towards 3D films. “When Avatar premiered in 2009, many predicted that 3D movies would change the future of cinema. However, the stats paint a different picture.

In 2012, 41 movies had 3D attached to them. In 2013, 35 movies. And in 2014, just 28 movies involved 3D.

With around 700 new movies released each year, the percentage of films with 3D visuals is getting slimmer and slimmer.” (The Guardian)

With that, on the other hand there was another article also found online, saying how 3D films can boost your brain power? This website specified: “According to British researchers, watching 3D films helps improve cognitive abilities. The team led by neuroscientist Patrick Fagan from Goldsmiths University found a 23 percent increase in cognitive processing ability among participants after watching a 3D movie.”

Figure 4

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As you can see, there is a major difference in the view points of completely different sources and you can see how strongly people can feel towards the 3D part of films so it is important that you look into both sides.

I also found on a BBC website that the world of 3D literally had changed someone’s life, I found this so amazing to read to actually see that something so small has had such an impact. “Bridgeman, a 67-year-old neuroscientist at the University of California in Santa Cruz, grew up nearly stereo blind, that is, without true perception of depth” (BBC, n.d.) He went to see a 3D film for the first time and this is how he felt after: “For the first time, Bridgeman saw a lamppost standing out from the background. Trees, cars and people looked more alive and more vivid than ever. And, remarkably, he’s seen the world in 3D ever since that day.” (BBC, n.d.) this shows us that 3D film can actually help people, so having the option of watching a film in 3D is great and proved by real peoples lives.

Primary researchI also conducted some primary research, I asked a few members of my family if they’d prefer films being in 3D or not and the outcome of that was: the majority of them said they would prefer it. (See

figure 6)

If they would prefer a film being in 3D

yes no

Figure 5: graph showing 3D

Where people watch filmsI figured another important aspect in researching into the film industry was to find out where people actually go to watch the film. It could be the cinema, the IMAX, they could stay at home or they could watch movies online.

Primary research I led some primary research again using Survey Monkey and added this question into it. I found the outcome very surprising as the biggest section was watching it at home. I found this shocking as a cinema is the main way

http://bsandrew.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/how-hugo-gave-one-neuroscientist-gift_630.html

http://people.ucsc.edu/~bruceb/index.php?Home

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of showing films is through the cinema, and that being the most popular in general you would have thought that that’s where people would go to watch films. Having said that, people may find it cheaper to wait until that film that was previewed in the cinema, to come out on DVD and watch it at home hence why ‘home’ is so popular on my survey. Also being with subscription TV, with them bringing out films onto their system, can also prevent people going to the cinema as they can watch films for free in their own comfort at home. This could also have an effect due to the cost of a cinema ticket these days.

Secondary researchUsing the ODEON online page (Odeon, n.d.)and I looked to see how much the prices to go to the cinema would cost, I found it varied from: £9.95 for adults, £7.25 for children (2D movies) and 3D movies prices are: £14.25, child: £12.25. By going to the BFI Imax in London the prices reach £16. With the prices being so high, you can see why some people would prefer to use their TV films to watch films instead of spending that much money. However some people who are massive film lovers, love to go to the IMAX as they say the ‘surrounding and experience is amazing’ and would prefer to do it the proper way.

Who people are most likely to watch films withPrimary researchThis is also important to research as it could have an effect on which genre. I carried out only primary research on this particular category because I found it hard to find a specific number with secondary research online, so I figured I will just conduct primary research. To do this I used my survey I had already created. I added this question to the survey and the outcome I found was people are most likely to watch movies with their family with 43% and partner was second with 30%. To collect more primary research I then interviewed some students at Haydon School and also some older family members, which I asked them the question as quoted ‘if you were to watch a movie, who would it be with?’ I got the answers of:

“I would probably watch a film on my own, I like just chilling out at home watching films’ (Blow J. , 2016)

“I go to the cinema with my boyfriend every Tuesday normally, so yeah, my boyfriend” (Kirkbride, 2016)

“I go to the cinema a lot with my dad, or we just stay at home and watch films on sky with him” (Blow C. , 2016)

There were different answers I received which shows it just varies, depending on your age and gender too. It would probably be better to actually make a film that a range of people will watch, so not just

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aimed at couples, or kids for example, don’t limit it so you have a certain audience, make it so a lot of different ages will enjoy it.

How many films people watch a weekPrimary researchThis is another aspect which I wanted to look into but with only primary research again as I thought by searching for secondary research online, wouldn’t be much use. I uploaded the question onto my survey of: ‘how many films would you say you watch every week?’ and the options were

- None- 1-3- 4-6- 7-10- 11+

The majority put 1-3 which I would say is average, I mean the people who answered the survey had a massive age range, they ranged from 15-60+ and most of that age gap would either be in education or a full time job, meaning they would not have that much free time, apart from weekends, and in that space of just two days, people can use that time to watch some films. 78% of the survey watch 1-3 and a surprising amount of people 17% watch 4-6. That will be film lovers who enjoy using their spare time watching films. I also interviewed again 2 students at Haydon School, age 17-18. I asked them how many films they watched per week and these are the responses that I got:

“It really depends, like one week I will watch about 3 films and the next I will watch none” (Williams, 2016)

“errrrrm, I couldn’t really tell you for definite each week, but I would say around 2 or 3” (Maleney, 2016)

So on average, that isn’t a shocking number, I would say its pretty standard to be watching 2 or 3 films per week, especially people who work or are in full time education.

When films are releasedSecondary researchDifferent genres of films normally have different release dates. This could be, romance/romance comedy films would normally be released around Valentine’s Day, action films will be released in the summer when people are on their summer break, Christmas (event) films will be released around Christmas time etc. so before setting a release dates, you need to think carefully about when would actually be the best time to release it to the public. By using my secondary research online, I found some interesting information about 2015 films release dates. It showed us which genre was

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released each month. I will state the information I found: (Movie Insider, n.d.)In January, the most common film genre which were released was Horror and Drama films. This included The Women in Black 2 (Horror), Still Alice (Drama).In February, as I stated about the romance films being released at this time of year, the films that were released were in fact Romance and Teen films that were, Love Rosie. Fifty Shades of Grey and The Duff which supports my idea of different genres having to be released in the correct month of the year. Now around the time of summer, or the summer holidays was the most popular time for the amount of films to be released. There was a range of genres around this time which included: Documentary, Thriller and comedy. In the space of 4 weeks in July, 41 films were released in that time. That is the same with August too, 45 films were released, all being different genres too.

I found this information interesting and it is defiantly something to take into consideration in releasing your film. If in the summer, your film will be a massive hit, then summer will be a fantastic time to release the film as that’s when the cinemas are very busy, of course depending on the genre.

Film budgetsSecondary research

In the process of making a film, the budget is a very important factor to look into. The budget must involve everything you plan to do when creating the film, sets, cast, locations, food, accommodation etc. so it isn’t cheap for any film. I am going to discuss some of the highest budgeted film and what the outcome of the film was once released. Pirates of the Caribbean, officially holds the record of $378.5 million and was released in

2011. Another interesting thing about this film is that it was the first film in the series to be released into the Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3D formats and that was a big thing for this film. It was released on May 7, 2011 in Disney Land, and May 20th in the USA. With the high budget cost, the film managed to make an astonishing amount in the box office, it made $1.046 billion back. (Wikipedia, n.d.) Now on the other hand, you can get really low budget films too. Low budget films can either go one way or another. With the low budget it could not do well at all, or it could be amazing and make an amazing amount of profit. A good example of this is The Blaire Witch Project. It is a 1999 American found footage horror film. Written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick. The budget of this film was $22,500 and overall, the film ended up grossing a total amount of $248,639,099 and was

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nominated for 11 awards and won 3. So it proves that even low budget films can make a profit of millions, which was proven by Blaire Witch Project. (Wikipedia, n.d.)

Popular filmsOne of the final aspects to look into would be the most current popular films. Or even the most popular films of all time. This tells us which kind of films, including various actors were the most successful and which the public liked the most. I decided to find out this information I will use some primary and secondary research

Primary researchWhilst doing this research, i made a question on survey monkey asking the audience to rank 10 films out of 10. I listed some of the most popular films that are recent. I thought by doing recent films, they are most likely to of seen them as they are all massive blockbuster hits. From this survey I can see which is the most popular films out of the ones I gave them. You can see clearly that Jurassic world was the one that everyone voted was the best. Close second came Kingsmen and Star Wars which again were recently in cinema and made a huge box office profit. Jurassic world’s budget was a huge $150 million and made a profit of $1.669 billion! (Wikipedia, n.d.) The film that not many people liked was SPY. This was a comedy film starring Melissa McCarthy and Miranda Hart. However the budget was a lot less than Jurassic world at $65 million! It shows that action/adventure was a lot more popular than the comedy films.

Secondary researchTo gather some research that I found online I used a popular website used to document films and actors (IMDB, n.d.) I found this website was very useful in finding out the most popular films of 2015. It listed the popular films and what the rank was out of 10. It showed me that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was actually the most popular film with a rank of 8.4. The other popular films that I found online were: Room and The Revenant with a score of 8.3 which is interesting as Star Wars is a Sci-Fi film and the other two are Drama films.

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Top films bought on DVDOnce a film has been in cinema for a couple of weeks, they then release it on DVD for people who didn’t see it in the cinema to watch. This is for the people that like watching films at home rather than at the cinema. Releasing it on DVD is also another good way to make some extra money. However, in this modern day, people are more into technology and buying films online, ITunes, PS4, XBOX etc. so you get a digital copy rather than a disk.

Secondary researchI only carried out secondary research for this section as I found primary research wouldn’t give me that much information. To gather some research from online I wanted to find out what film are brought on DVD and the prices, where I could get them etc. by using a well-known website (Amazon, n.d.) I looked at the best sellers to see what the most popular DVD’s that people brought were. Number 1 was the new film starring Tom Hanks, Legend. It appears to be £9.99 which is normally the average price for an ordinary DVD. It was rated 5 stars mostly which shows it’s very popular. Spectre, Star Wars, Inside Out, Everest were also on the bestselling page and shows again their popularity to the public once they have been released at the cinema. Another digital distribution platform, (iTunes) also sells films, but an online version of DVD’s. Again it had top 10 films brought on this platform which were pretty similar to amazon which were:

1. Legend $38.7 million2. Everest $202.4 million3. Maze runner Scorch Trials $312.3 million4. Straight Outta Compton $200.4 million 5. No escape $54.4 million6. Mission Impossible $682.3 million7. The Wolf of Wall Street $392 million8. 45 Years $8.2 million9. Mad Max $375.8 million10. Jobs. $28.9 million

These films were all shown in the cinema and all were very successful as you can see with the amount of money the box office made. By the amount of money the films made, makes it very hopeful that the selling of the DVD’s will be good too and make some money, even if it is from iTunes, Amazon or the high-street shops.

Daniella Blow

Books being turned into filmsBooks is a very good way on how to make a movie. It is like already having an idea and you just have to make that book come to life. Although when people do this, the directors normally slightly change bits in the book to maybe make it more appealing for the audience. It also adds another target audience to the movie, as book lovers who have read the book will want to see what the film is like. A book is something people really get attached too, so having the movie come with it also is a really big hit. Some of the biggest films/sequels/series/documentaries have come from a novel.

Secondary researchTo find out more about books being turned into films, I decided to research a bit more into it. I wanted to find out which films, successful films have already been turned into a film from a book. The information I found was that: The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight, Divergent, The Fault in the Stars, The Perks of being a wallflower, The notebook, are all very well-known and successful films which were firstly a book (good reads, n.d.). This made me curious and want to find out what books are the best sellers in this current period. I found that the following books are the most popular:The lovers, this is happening, The King of Taksim Square and My life next door, were all in the top 10. They contain of biography, business, Fiction, Young adult and all have different audiences. (amazon, n.d.) This sort of information could really help in deciding your film as one of the books may have a good storyline that will make even better if it had some changes, which is then possible in making a film.

Primary researchTo carry out some primary research I decided to in my interview, include a question about books. The question I asked was “have you got a favourite book at the moment? And if you have, would you like to see it as a film?”

I asked 2 of my family members, as they are full grown adults, and I asked 3 students. I wanted to have a range of different ages points of views to not make it biased. Their responses were very positive, supporting the books into films idea.

“I am actually reading a book called six months in Montana at the moment and I’m hooked to it. It’s a romance book and I think it would make a really good film!” (Keane, 2016)

Daniella Blow

“I’ve just finished How To Kill A Mocking Bird and I loved it so much, I didn’t want it to end, but it would literally make the best film and I would be the first one to watch it if they do” (Blow C. , 2016)

RecommendationsBased on my research I have done, I am going to propose what I think about the current state of the film industry and what you should consider in your decisions. The first thing you need to decide is the idea of your film. I suggest you look into some bestselling novels and see if you like the idea of turning that into a movie. This attracts film lovers but also book lovers, the films that do this are very successful! I believe, when you are choosing your cast, I think you should think about the most popular actor and actress right now, and maybe combine them both into the film, that is a good way to make sure people will watch it, Friends with benefits is a good example of that with Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, at the time they were popular and when they made the film it was a great hit! With choosing the genre of the film, there is lots of things you need to think about as well, don’t just think about what people will enjoy to watch, you should consider when you will release the film and also your competition. Right now, the genre that is most popular would be either Action, Adventure or Comedy. You can’t really go wrong with those genres if you have no competition who may out you. During this modern day, 3D films are growing fast. Most films now come out in 3D and it would be even better for the box office as ticket prices are more expensive in 3D, so I would recommend giving the public to watch the film in 2D but also in 3D to make sure everyone is happy. If you are aiming for a big blockbuster hit, to also release it in the IMAX, this will make the experience for the audiences more enjoyable. You also need to think deeply into when the film is going to be released, summer will probably be the best time of year as everyone is broken up from work/school and will have a lot more free time. Now when you are working out your budget, don’t go too overboard. Because sometimes when there is a low budget, it can still be very popular and make a good amount of profit from the box office. However, if it is a big budget, you have to be certain that it is going to make that money back! Another vital thing you need to think about is how you are going to advertise the film. I personally think the best way to advertise films is by using posters which can be put on billboards and bus stops. This is the best way to show people about your new film as lots of people while they are walking, driving, waiting for a bus, they can see the poster and check it out. The poster should be appealing and eye catching! Another good way to advertise which matches this present day is by posting the trailers on social media. This could mean Facebook, twitter, and even Instagram. With the amount of popularity these days will get millions of people aware of the film.

Daniella Blow

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Daniella Blow

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Education

Research in film industry