Audience Research - Secondary Research

Audience Research - Secondary Research
In this section, I will be doing research about why people watch thrillers and which type of people watch thrillers so I can decide on an audience for the opening sequence of my thriller. 

Who watches thrillers?
According to research, in 2009, out of the 503 total films released in the UK, 31 were thrillers, taking 4% of the year’s box office earnings with £42,578,104. This is a rather small percentage of the year's box office earnings. The percentage may be very small because thrillers may not be the genre of film that many people choose to go and watch at the cinema. One subgenre of thrillers is a psychological thriller. They usually create questions in the audience's minds and in psychological thrillers, it is not uncommon to have a big twist partway through the film. Many thrillers feature violence which means certain people who may be huge thriller fans cannot see these films because of the age restrictions. Thrillers usually have a certificate of 15 or 18 so they are not accessible to everyone. As some teenagers aged below 15 may be big fans of thrillers, not being able to see the films in the cinema suggests that they would wait until the film was available to watch at home. Although some teenagers may wait until the film is released for home entertainment, the fact that thrillers have an age rating at the cinema suggests that the genre may be losing potential viewers.
(Research from http://thriller11group26.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/thriller-audiences.html) 

Why do people watch thrillers?
According to research, people watch thrillers to be entertained and thrilled. The genre of thriller helps the audience to become enthralled in the twists and turns of the film. To some degree, people also choose to watch thrillers because they want to forget about the worries and stresses in their own life. People may watch a thriller film to gain an insight into the circumstances of other people. This genre may appeal to some people because they want to identify with a situation that someone they know is going through. A further reason why people watch thrillers is to find models of behaviour. There are different representations of good and evil in thrillers and this may appeal to people who like to see a contrast in the behaviour of characters. 
(Research from http://britasthrillerhannah.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/uses-and-gratifications-theory.html)