Potential Audiences

What are Potential Audiences for Films?


Over the last few years the creation of short films has increased this is because of technology which has enabled many people to create films in short amount of time.

There are different ways in how short films are funded. One of the ways they are funded is by the UK Film council however from the 1^st April due to funding cuts from the government this was transferred to the British Film Institute (BFI) and Film London. In one year they were able to invest in £15 million for the production of films. As well as funding the UK Film Council distributed and exhibited short films, this would make it easier to reach the audiences.

Short films are not profit- oriented; they are mainly created for the self-promotion of directors, to be entered in film festivals and competitions- they are like a ‘stepping stone’ and to gain experience. Some films are created for educational purposes therefore they are like ‘trigger films’ to communicate a message their audiences which would mainly be students. A film that was targeted at students was a film called cherries by Tom Harper and Gravity by Collin Hutton. These films are normally about young adults- some children, for example the short film Gravity was young people committing crimes and there was a clear message of ‘the responsibility of actions’.Different films are directed to different audiences such as the film ‘Sign Language’ by Oscar Sharp would have a target audience of a wide range because of the content. A film like memories by Radoslaw Sienski would be targeted 25/30+.

Memories- Radoslaw Sienski

The target audience would effect the content in the film. For example, 'Trigger Films' are normally targeted at Teenagers and school kids. This is because they normally discuss these films as they have important messages which is the film would initially be created for. An example of a Trigger film is Gravity by Collin Hutton. It is about young teenagers/ kids who need to take responsibility for their actions. In this short film the kids fire a gunshot in the air which at the end is revealed that they kill an innocent young child playing on a swing. This film would target upper school audiences because strong language and graphic and it would be suitable for year 7. Therefore Gravity would be more like to get a age certificate of 15.  

Gravity- Collin Hutton

Feature length films have more potential audiences because they have much more publicity, as the trailers/posters/adverts are shown in various locations such as on television, near cinemas, stations and bus stops the public becomes more aware of them compared to short films which are not normally as heard of. The main reason for this is the budget which is much less than main stream films, as short films are normally 5-10 minutes less money is needed to create them therefore there is also less publicity otherwise more would have to be spent on publicity compared to the actual film.

Other ways how short films are distributed is through the internet again with due to technology, people from all over the world are able to see short film with sites such as YouTube and the BBC Film Network (some films are also shown on the official websites of the director/creator) and this enables the creator to easily share their work as people of different ages visit these sites. However not many people do search for short films as they are not main stream as do not get as much publicity as feature length films. therefore it would not easily reach target audiences.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) classifies all films in created in the UK. There are six categories where films can be classified into and there are ‘U’ which is suitable for all, ‘PG’- Parental Guidance, ’12’ and ‘12A’- Not suitable for children under the age of 12 however may see the film accompanied with an adult, ’15’, ‘18’ and ‘R18’. 

The reason for why films are classified is because of the content- some scenes may distrub/be harmful to different audiences. For example horror film may upset younger children making them unsuitable therefore there would be an age limit so the child must be atleast a particular age before they can watch the film. An example for this is Paranormal Activity 3 was rated 15 as it contained strong language and threats which would not suit anyone younger than this age.

Examples of Film Certificates by the BBFC:

The BBFC notes whether they are any scenes  which are harmful such as criminal activity or whether anyone was harmed during the production. If there is any detail regarding criminal activity then the BBFC can ask the owners the remove such scenes before a certificate is given and released to the public because these can influence people.