Task 3 Target Audience- Analysis of BFI Data Genre and Classification

• As part of research into films in order to look at  different genres of film and to gain an idea of their popularity in terms off number of releases, % of all releases, gross box office (£ million) and % of total box office, we looked into the BFI statistical yearbook. Animation was the most popular genre among the UK cinema within 2013, with action second and comedy third. Animation was also the highest earning genre of 2013, accounted for only 5% off releases but took 21% off the total box office. This figure shows us how profitable the Animation genre is. Moreover within 2013 the six top performing films by genre were UK films. 

We focused on table 4.1 which showed us the relative popularity of different genres at the box office in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The popularity of the genre is usually determined by the number of high grossing releases.

Table 4.1 Films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre 

• From looking at the table we can draw the conclusion that the Thriller Genre is more popular in terms of the number of films released in comparison to the Horror Genre. There were 64 Thrillers realised in 2013 whereas there was only 37 Horror Films released. In terms of profitability the Horror genre actually earns more money. The Horror films made £57.5 million, where as the Thriller genre only made £29.1 million. This shows that the Horror genre is considerably more popular in comparison to the Thriller genre, meaning that it is more profitable. Moreover the Romance genre gained both less releases with a smaller total of 34 films being released within 2013 and a considerably less profit of £13.9 million. 

When considering what genre of film we wish to use when creating our own films we must consider there popularity and profitability however must also consider that although the Horror genre made more profit, the Thriller genre had more releases this may be because the storyline and conventions are more versatile, leaving more opportunity to create and use original ideas. 

•  We also looked into table 4.2 about the films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2013 (ranked by average widest point of release). This table allowed us to identify the average number of sites which showed the film at the widest point of release, in other words the amount of cinemas which showed the genre. From the table we was able to conclude that the Horror genre had more cinemas showing that genre of film during the widest point of release with a total off 145 sites, this helped contribute to the high profit of the genre. Whereas the Thriller genre had less cinema's showing the genre with a lower total of 89, during the widest point of release, this would then cause a lack off profit. 

Table 4.2 Films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre 2013 (ranked by average widest point of release)

• Moreover we then looked at table 4.3 of which showed us the films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2013 (ranked by average box office gross per site) in other words shows us the profit the films make for the sites which show the film e.g. the cinemas. The Horror genre had a high average box office per site with a total off 10,708 in comparison to the Thriller genre of which generated a lower total of 5,127 on average box office per site.

Table 4.3 Films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2013 (ranked by average box office gross per site)

• Table 4.4 shows us the UK films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre 2013 (ranked by gross box office) from the chart I can gather the information that there are more UK film releases of Horror films (17) in comparison to the Horror genre (7). However despite the UK horror film releases being fewer than Thriller they Horror genre manages to be more profitable with a £14.8 million gross box office whereas the Thriller genre having only a lower total off £4.1 million gross box office.

Table 4.4 UK films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland by genre, 2013 (ranked by gross box office)

• Table 4.1 show us the proportion of box office by genre for all films, UK films and UK independent films, 2013. From the table I can draw the conclusion that the Horror genre makes up more of the proportion of box office in comparison to the Thriller genre. Horror films make up 5.2% off the Box Office whereas the Thriller films take up a smaller figure off 7.6%. This means that the Horror films provide more profit in comparison to the Thriller genre. However as shown in table 4.2 proportion of releases by genre for all films, UK films and UK independent films, 2013 we are able to see that despite the Horror genres providing more box office profit the Horror genre has less proportions of release than the Thriller films. Horror films are 1.3% of releases whereas the Thriller genre is 1.3%. From this we can conclude that although less Horror films are released they are more profitable than the Thriller films despite the Thriller genre having more releases.