Introduction:
As a member of some of the biggest cinema going demographics such as 16-24 year olds and families I reflect some of the biggest trends amongst modern day audiences, including a greater use of home entertainment, using portable devices, and going to the cinema less, which poses a major problem for film institutions such as Momentum Pictures and The Walt Disney Company as the amount of revenue they make will be affected.
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The 16-24 year old market is one of the largest in the world, and the proliferation of Web 2.0 has further increased their importance, as social media like Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. has led to increased fandom activity, and as a member of all 3 of those social networks as well as having a YouTube account, my experience of sharing information, opinions and experiences of the media via the web by using hashtags like 'avengersassemble', reblogging gifs, retweeting and liking content such as the King's Speech Soundtrack reflects a generation moving online. Film Institutions are harnessing this in order to market their films effectively towards my age groups, and I personally liked not only major blockbuster films YouTube and facebook pages such as 'Avenger's Assemble' but also British films trailers like 'The King's Speech', which shows that all contemporary films need an online presence, and the importance of the internet to not just films targeting young people like 'Avenger's Assemble', but also to films with 16-24 year olds as their secondary markets. The increase of web usage has also affected film institutions as it has increased the availability of pirated films and many young people visit websites devoted to illegal versions of films. I have visited sites such as 'Solarmovie' but I also went to see 'Avenger's Assemble' at the cinema with my friends to see a high quality version, and as it's extensive 360 degree campaign (which involved trailers before youtube videos, bus stop posters as well as an active online twitter feed and facebook page) made it a must-see film, and I, like many others my age, didn't want to be left out of the watercooler moments about it.
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I am also a member of the other major demographic, families. After having gone to see 'Avenger's Assemble' with my friends in 2D, I also went to watch it in 3D with my family as we thought it might enhance our viewing experience. However, going to the cinema with my family is a rare event for me, and reflects many others feelings that the ticket prices are too high and the fact we watched 'Avenger's Assemble' in 3D is also very rare for us, reflecting the backlash from 3D after Avatar's release in 2009. I, and many others, tend to watch movies with my family on our home entertainment system, which we recently upgraded. Like many others who find interacting with media at home more convenient comfortable and accessible, our upgrading of our TV represents a shift of audiences away from the cinema, seeing it more as an occasional treat than a regular occurrence, especially as the introduction of HD and 3D TVs allows audiences a higher and stress free viewing experience. This is especially significant as, thanks to the advent of PVRs, we can now record films when they come on terrestrial televisions, just as we recorded 'The King's Speech' when it aired on Channel 4 over the easter holidays.
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As a female, I often find representations of women in the media to be stereotypical and inaccurate, reflecting the post feminist ideas of female audiences who want to see strong and fully developed female characters, as well as the typical themes of romance and the attractive male characters that historically have been integrated into films by institutions trying to target women. While I feel that the addition of the theme of romance to action adventure films like 'Avengers Assemble' might have appealed to me, I wanted to see the films for it's fantastic special effects and set pieces as well as the humour that was prominent in the marketing campaign (with lines like 'Guys I'm bringing the party to you' followed by a shot of a monster flying round a skyscraper), not for the brief and undeveloped romance between Black Widow and Hawkeye. In addition, I found that the two female characters in the film - Agent Maria Hill and Black Widow - where not particularly appealing as they were minor roles, and skin tight black jumpsuits made them highly sexualized, which reflects the burgeoning demand for realistic and new representations of women in action adventure films. ON the other hand, I, and many other women, enjoyed watching Helena Bonham Carter's role in 'The King's Speech', because although she took on the traditional wife role, she was one of the main characters and brought much humour and humanity to the films. This reflects the way in which audiences are growing tired of generic character representations and may turn away from Hollywood to look for them, giving the British film industry a chance to fill a gap that Hollywood leaves and target a wider audience with interesting representations.
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Also, being British, both Hollywood and Uk institutions try to target me, and recently I have seen a mixture of Hollywood and British films in the cinema, reflecting the way both industries are successfully targeting a national audience. In particular, I enjoyed 'The King's Speech' for its beautiful cinematography, music, narrative and humour, reflecting the way that as the British film industry is producing better films in order to compete with Hollywood, a larger audience is being drawn to see them. Even though I am not part of 'The King's Speech's target audience of over 50s, I saw some of the TV spots and heard all the positive word of mouth about it (especially around the Oscars where it won 4 awards) and wanted to see it. I also found Momentum Picture's (the UK distributor) use of British iconography like Buckingham palace in the synergistic marketing campaign, as well as the british values, narrative settings and cast a huge pull, recognising very British actors such as Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter whom I had seen before in period dramas like 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'A Room With A View', assuring me of their quality. This reflects the way that British films are using our identity as a nation to market themselves and appeal to a British audience, although Hollywood films such as 'Avengers Assemble' were still appealing to me because of their global themes like good vs evil, recognisable locations like New York, and star names like Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlet Johannson. This illustrates the way that both Hollywood and Uk films can be appealing to a British audience, although the use of stereotypically British things does make the marketing of a film more tailored.
Conclusion:
In conclusion my experiences reflect many of the contemporary changes in the film industry as audiences demand higher quality films, more accurate representation and a better viewing experience.
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