The role of the production company

The role of the production company is to advertise and promote a film, in order to try and get it released into cinemas. Larger production companies such as ‘20^th Century Fox’ (X-Men, the Simpsons) will have a bigger budget and can get films into cinemas nationwide. These are usually for mainstream films, so my horror film would want to be advertised nationwide. Smaller production companies such as ‘Vivendi Entertainment’ (Hurricane Season, Fanboys) will have smaller budgets, and will not release the film into as many cinemas, because they cannot afford to. This tends to be for more niche films such as ‘Waste Land’ and ‘M’. My film is a typical bloody horror with a religious side to it, so would probably be classed as a mainstream film. If I was to try and get my film published, I  would go to the big names such as ‘20^th Century Fox’ first, in order to try and get my film released nationwide throughout all cinemas.

A major production company releases a substantial number of films annually and gets a share of box-office revenues. In the Western and global markets, the major film studios various movie production and distribution subsidiaries command approximately 90% of the U.S. box office. The "Big Six" majors, whose operations are based in or around Hollywood, are all based in film studios active during Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s. In three cases—20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Paramount—the studios were one of the "Big Five" majors during that era as well. In two cases—Columbia and Universal—the studios were also considered majors, but in the next tier down, part of the "Little Three". In the sixth case, Walt Disney Studios was an independent production company during the Golden Age; it was an important Hollywood entity, but not a major.

A production company is responsible for the development and filming of a specific production. Firstly is the pre-production phase. Most productions never reach this phase for financing or talent reasons. In pre-production, the actors are signed on and prepared for their roles, crew is signed on, shooting locations are found, sets are built or acquired, and the proper shooting permits are acquired for on location shooting.

Next, a production begins filming. Most productions are never cancelled once they reach this phase. In many cases, the director, producers, and the leading actors are often the only people with access to a full or majority of a single script. Supporting actors, background actors, and crew often never receive a full copy of a specific script to prevent leaks. Productions are often shot in secured studios, with limited to no public access, but they are also shot on location on secured sets or locations.

After filming, is post production, which is overseen by the production company. The editing, musical score, visual effects, re-recording of the dialog, and sound effects are "mixed" to create the final film, which is then screened. Marketing is also launched during this phase, such as the release of trailers and posters. Once a final film has been approved, the film is taken over by the distributors, who then release the film.

Audience Research (Independent)

Audience research

Independent

From the results of my questionnaire, I can conclude many different results. I sent out a questionnaire around college, 50% girls and 50% boys. Of the boys, 60% said that horror was their favourite genre, compared with only 10% of the girls. This could suggest that horror movies are more appealing to boys than girls, which is why my horror film is aimed more at boys, with shots that support the male gaze theory (leaving the girl on camera for longer), and more bloody and gory deaths throughout. This will hopefully maximise profits. Of the boys, 75% go to the cinema on a monthly basis, and 15% see horror films at the cinema once a month, whereas only 30% of girls go to the cinema once a month, and only 5% see a horror film at the cinema once a month. This shows that the cinema still has strong viewings, particularly among teenaged boys, and that horror movies are still most popular among teenaged boys. Finally, I established from my questionnaire that 80% of males want to see an attractive female play the ‘final girl’, and 90% of females wanted males on camera in an attractive way (e.g. body shots etc.)

Concluding my results, it is easy to show that the main target audience for horror films are boys aging from 15-25. For this reason, my horror film would contain the ‘male gaze ’theory idea, as suggested by Laura Mulvey. This is the suggestion that the camera is male, and looks upon women in usually a sexual way (e.g. a chase scene for a woman capturing only her body, whereas a chase scene for a male would have lots of face in the shots). This would probably attract more of my target audience (male viewers) and so maximise my profits.

Audience research (general)

Audience research

General

The main target audience for any kind of horror movie is mainly people ageing from 15-25, particularly teenagers. This may because they look for more of a thrill when watching a film, a kind of thrill that only a horror movie could give. It is mostly aimed at men as they are more likely to be able to interact with the characters on screen, and men seem to enjoy the blood and gore more than women. Women can interact with those on screen to but they would tend to react differently, since most women prefer no blood, or gore, due to it being a social norm for women not to like blood. However recent figures show that females watching horror has exceeded male viewers for the first time. The secondary target audience is dating couples, more likely to be either very close to marriage couples or first date couples.

In the table below, it shows that horror films have less than 5% of the market share. This tends to be because the audience is less mainstream than genres such as comedy and adventure, who have over 40% of the market share between them.

Top-Grossing Genres 1995 to 2012

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	Comedy	1,751	$44,792,158,044	$25,580,901	23.48%
2	Adventure	521	$38,199,674,469	$73,319,913	20.03%
3	Drama	3,132	$33,621,012,632	$10,734,678	17.63%
4	Action	570	$32,066,637,809	$56,257,259	16.81%
5	Thriller/Suspense	561	$15,495,734,985	$27,621,631	8.12%
6	Romantic Comedy	403	$11,286,883,357	$28,007,155	5.92%
7	Horror	329	$9,093,205,812	$27,638,923	4.77%
8	Documentary	1,076	$2,063,950,710	$1,918,170	1.08%
9	Musical	113	$1,865,013,970	$16,504,548	0.98%
10	Black Comedy	85	$781,440,299	$9,193,415	0.41%

Horror film poster & sketch

Horror Magazine cover & sketch

History of a horror character- Dracula

History of a horror character

Count Dracula

Count Dracula is the title character and main enemy of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic Horror novel 'Dracula'. He is shown as an typical vampire. Some aspects of the character are inspired by the Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler who was also known as "Dracula." The character appears frequently in popular culture, from films to animated media to breakfast cereals.

Although early in the novel Dracula is shown as friendly, he becomes angry when his plans are interfered with. When the three vampire women who live in his castle attempt to seduce Jonathan Harker, Dracula physically assaults on. He then relents and talks to them more kindly, telling them that he does indeed love each of them. Dracula is very passionate about his warrior heritage. He has a somewhat primitive and predatory worldview.

He has usually had a strong Eastern European accent, although the original novel only states that his spoken English is excellent, though strangely toned, and doesn’t necessarily suggest that he is Eastern European.

His appearance varies. He is described early in the novel as thin, with a long white moustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. It is also noted later in the novel that sees him that he has a hooked nose and a pointed beard with a streak of white in it. He is dressed all in black.

There have been many different takes on Count Dracula over the last century, ranging from Nosferatu to Twilight, which features modern day vampires, however, keeps the same themes from original vampires, such as feeding from blood and being killed with garlic and a crucifix.