Audience research

Global and NZ digitisation trends
Questions;

1. How many of the world's population are currently connected to the internet? (slide 6)

4.388 billion with a penetration of 57%

2. How many of the world's population are active social media users? (slide 6)

3.484 billion with a penetration of 45%

3. What are the top 5 social media sites used globally? (slide 10)

Facebook, Youtube, Whats App, FB Messenger, Webxin/Webchat

4. What two age-groups have the largest contingent of social media users? (slide 12)

18-24 yr olds and 25-34 yr olds

5. What percentage of NZ's population are connected to the internet and what percentage have social media? (slide 15)

4.22 million of New Zealand's population are connected to the internet with a 88% penetration. 3.40 million are active social media users with a 71% penetration.

6. What are the top 3 devices used to consume media in NZ? (slide 18)

Mobile phone (any type) 92%, Smart phone 81%, Laptop or desktop computer 84%.

7. How many hours a day are NZ's watching/ streaming online TV services? (slide 19)

2 hours and 42 minutes

8. What percentage of internet users in NZ watch videos online and what percentage stream content via the internet? (slide 28)

94% watch videos online and 57% stream via the internet

9. What are NZ's top 5 social media sites? (slide 33)

Youtube, Facebook, FB Messenger, Instagram, Pinterest.

Trends within NZ for media consumption

Questions;

1. Who are considered 'i-gens' (page 3 )
The iGens are the generation of people born from about the mid1990s to the mid-2000s.

2. In what ways are i-gens connected and using digital technology? (pg 4)
iGens are the first generation to spend their entire lives growing up with iPads, iPods and iPhones etc. iGen spend all day connected online.

3. How would you describe the relationship with i-gens with the content of the media they are consuming? (Summarise page 5)
iGens consider things that affect a persons well-being as very important or informative. Films influence iGens’ opinions on a whole variety of social, political and environmental issues, and act as a catalyst for discussion with friends and family.

4. In what way does social media play a part in influencing i-gens activity in whether they watch a film or not? (p7)

Social media plays a huge part in iGen lives. It is an under-utilised opportunity for cinemas, film distributors and filmmakers to reach out and directly engage with the iGeneration in their world and in their way.

5. List the emotional motivations that drive i-gens to watch movies at the cinemas and what in general do they like about it? (p8 & 10)
Chilled: escaping for a couple of hours, relaxing and chilling out with no interruptions. Intimate: being intimate with others through social connection and shared experiences with partners, friends, colleagues and families. Hyped: experiencing heightened emotions including being hyped and excited (action movies), shocked and terrified (horror), sad (dramas), and laughing (comedy). In the know: feeling that by watching the latest movies you are a leader – that you are at the forefront of the culture and leading social media commentary and opinion. Creative: becoming a ‘film buff’ and being creative by following directors and other creative artists involved in filmmaking. Socially conscious: thinking and being curious about the issues raised in the film and using the film to help shape discussion, opinions, views and beliefs. The iGeneration values the immersive, state-of-the-art, sight and sound technology of cinemas that they cannot access at home.

6. Comment on why i-gens opt to watch movies online at home (p 9)
In-home viewing is easy, convenient, safe, comfortable and costs very little. It can be sociable or equally enjoyable alone.

7. What do the i-gens say is negative about the cinema experience? (p11)
The cost and ‘administration’ involved with the cinema experience is somewhat out of step with iGens. It is expensive, inflexible and inconvenient compared to watching a movie at home. The lack of flexibility, lining up for tickets and limited food and drink options can all add up to too much bother.

8. Use page 13 to write a few sentences about how i-gens should be marketed to if you are trying to get them to watch your film
The iGeneration need more than trailers and posters to engage them with cinema. They need to feel that cinema-going is a ‘must go’ social event. The best place to attract their interest is where they spend a lot of time – on social media. They enjoy the customised approach of platforms like Netflix which say ‘if you enjoyed movie X then you would probably love movies Y and Z’. With a more targeted approach to social media that isn’t just trailers.

9. Use pages 14 - 19 to write a few points about the way i-gens prefer to engage with media and what they want out of a media consumption experience
Use apps to make booking, tickets and food and drink ordering more streamlined and convenient. Dedicated spaces at the cinema where they can hang out with their friends. The iGeneration want cinemas to be immersive, super-comfortable, well designed, and incorporate the latest technologies such as surround sound and virtual reality (VR). would also like to be able to view other forms of entertainment such as live sports, e-sports (competitive gaming) and ‘binge-watch’ entire TV series. They are also interested in outdoor and drive-in cinema, and being able to select or vote for what they view and when they view it.

Survey

...Survey Questions...

Age:

Preferred Genre:

Movies watched per year:

Number of films watched at a cinema:

Three most frequent cinemas:

Preferred film watching style:                                             Amount:

• Watch film from start to finish with no breaks     =  8
• Watch film with short breaks (get water, etc)      =  12
• Watch film with long breaks                          =  2

( the first person's reason was that they would go watch something else then come back to the movie/film. The second person's reason was that they would start watching a film before school and then finish it later when they returned home.)

In conclusion:

From the data presented it shows how younger people have more time to watch films on different streaming platforms whereas older generations are not so aware of these different websites/apps.There is a slow decline in the use of cinemas nowadays where most movies that are older can be accessed online, but a lot of new modern day films have to be viewed in the cinema when it is first released. 

CCR tools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfg1LS5b5x8 - door closing
Un-linking sound from video

transitioning

dip to black

volume changing

volume gain
music - Piano

Peer critiques:

-Make the transition smoother between the knife scene and the car scene. (longer)
-Change the music in the car scene
-Build up the music more in the car scene

Audience Trends Research

New Zealand on Air:

• N=1,002 interviews were completed by telephone using random digit dialling, and n=412 interviews were completed online using Consumer Link’s Flybuys research panel.
• Most popular channels, sites and stations. (streaming platforms)

• Youtube and Facebook easily reach the biggest audiences among lower socio-economic New Zealanders in terms of online video. Stuff and NZ Herald are significantly less popular among this group and significantly fewer lower socio-economic New Zealanders use NZ Herald than the overall NZ population.

New Zealand Herald:

• With a reach of 67 per cent, broadcast TV remains the media channel reaching the most people on a daily basis. However, based on the trend showing a decline from 83 per cent in 2014, this could well be the last time TV retains the spot on the top of the pile.
• New Zealanders continue to spend over two and a half hours watching linear TV each day, and over an hour and a half listening to radio each day.
• Online videos streamed via Facebook and YouTube now reach 52 per cent of Kiwis on a daily basis, while newspapers (including online) only reach 41 per cent.

Flicks.co.nz:

• Netflix and other main streaming platforms are trying to compete with each other and usually offer trial periods or free plans for a certain period of time to entice customers. e.g. netflix plans .... The Cost – Basic Plan $9.99 per month (no HD) / Standard Plan is $12.99 per month (HD) / Premium Plan $15.99 per month (Ultra HD) Number of Useable Devices – one / two / four at the same time. Trial benefits – first month free.
• Lightbox is still a TV-dominated domain “focused on bringing the best new and exclusive TV shows to Kiwi households” says Lightbox CEO Kym Niblock.
• However, Video Ezy On Demand is dead. The PPV service ended its trade barely halfway past 2015, unable to keep up with the VOD herd.In its place is a new competitor waiting on the horizon: YouTube Red.

The University of Auckland:

• Netflix alone has more than 125 million subscribers worldwide, with 1.2 million of them in New Zealand, while cinema attendance in the United States last year dropped to its lowest level since 1995.
• Dr Karina Aveyard of the University of Sydney doubts that streaming services on their own are going to significantly disrupt theatres, or the traditional ways of experiencing film
• This new intervention by streaming services into the production and distribution side of the film business “changes the dynamics,” Aveyard claims, “in the sense that the films that didn’t get a cinema release and had the kind of money that those films did, that was somehow a continuation of their cultural value and certainly their economic value.”.

Creating suspense

1. How To Film A Suspense Scene
- Need to give a story before introducing a suspense scene e.g. the audience sees the tea being poisoned and she is about to drink it.

-Try to make you care about the character in some sort of way whether they be good or bad (character has history).

2. 3 Ways Steven Spielberg Builds Nail-Biting Suspense
-Put yourself in the shoes of the moviegoer and ask yourself “what would i want to see”

-Sincere ability to empathise with the audience can enable you to create extremely moving work and also suspenseful moments.

-Subjective and objective to create suspense

-Breaking up the scene with different close ups and swells of music helps to make each step build leading to the final reveal.

-Make it known what is at risk

-Panned shots can help establish distance and keeps tension going

-Cutaway shots sustain the tension by stretching the time

-A distraction may be introduced to create an almost problem

-Small objects may appear large signifying their importance to the scene.

-Mis en scene can be set out to represent characters emotions


3. How Hitchcock Creates Suspense
-The audience needs information from the director, without it suspense is not possible.

-Bomb Theory, suspense should be prolonged whereas shock should only be a “10 second shock period”

-Create a pattern with your film and the rising tension/suspense

Case Studies

Hollywood blockbuster:
Title: Suicide Squad
Release Date: 1st August 2016
Director: David Ayer
A-list cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Ben Affleck, Scott Eastwood, Cara
Delevingne, Jai Courtney.
Budget: 175 million USD
Release details: Suicide squad first premiered in New York City on August, 1st, 2016. It was then released for general viewing in America first before then being released worldwide. It was first available in cinemas before being able to be bought online and on other streaming platforms such as apple movies, Amazon prime and Disney plus. After having a strong debut that set new box office records, the film grossed over $746 million worldwide, making it the tenth-highest grossing film of 2016. Suicide squad got a mix of reviews but also lot of criticism in how it wasn't exactly an ‘age appropriate’ film. Many big critics like Sandie Angulo Chen from common sense media did not have many compliments for the film one example being when she says “Despite the talented cast and Robbie's stand-out performance as Harley Quinn, this antihero story is a disappointment”. So was this big budget film really worth it ?

A New Zealand Film
Title: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Release Date: 31st March 2016
Director: Taika Waititi
A-list cast: Taika Waititi,Julian Dennison, Rhys Darby (not really a-list)
Budget: 2.5 million USD
Release details: The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance film festival on 22 January 2016. It was then officially released to cinemas in New Zealand on the 31st of March, 2016. The film then received a limited North American release on 24 June 2016. Hunt for the Wilderpeople earned around $12.18 million dollars making it the biggest film in box office, and the top local film of all time. This movie received mass amounts of praise as well as glowing reviews from many movie critic websites. Sandie Angulo Chen from Common sense media proceed to say “This charming odd-couple adventure is the well-acted story of a down-and-out Maori kid and his grouchy foster parent.” and gave it a 4.7 star rating for audience viewing.

An independent/Arthouse film
Title: Moonlight
Release Date: 2nd September 2016
Director: Barry Jenkins
A-list cast: Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris

Budget: 1.5 million USD
Release details: Moonlight premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016.Moonlight received critical acclaim and is commonly cited as one of the best films of the 21st century. The film was released in the United States on October 21, 2016, and grossed over $65 million worldwide. The film received a lot of attention due to the message it was portraying a lot of critics appreciated this films artistic view, one of them being, John Anderson from Wallstreet Journal saying “Director Barry Jenkins has created a sublime, novelist work of art by employing the specific in pursuit of the universal: Few will walk away from “Moonlight” untouched by its message". The main streaming platforms used to watch this movie are, Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. 

A film that didn’t perform as well as expected.
Title: The Interview
Release date: February 6, 2015.
Director: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
A-list cast:James Franco, Seth Rogen, Rob Lowe, Nicki Minaj, Lizzy Caplan
Budget: 44 million USD
Release details: In June 2014, the North Korean government threatened action against the United States if Sony released the film. Sony delayed the film's release till December and tried to edit some of the film making it more acceptable for North Korea. Following this, Sony's computer systems were apparently hacked by a group called “Guardians of Peace” , a group that the FBI said to have ties with North Korea. The Interview grossed $40 million in digital rentals, making it Sony's most successful digital release and earned an additional $12.3 million worldwide in box office ticket sales on a $44 million budget. The film received many mixed reviews from critics as some humour may be offensive and the topic of the film was almost unconventional. Sara Stewart from the New York Post claimed the film was “a limp comedy, which has stirred up a world of controversy it doesn’t earn”.

Lighting Pt2

 Lighting:
Natural lighting will be used for our outdoor shots. This will help to enhance the realism of the film and almost keep it dull, conforming to the typical conventions of a thriller film.

For our indoor shots we will use a dull yellow light to match the light that is seen to be shining through the windows of the 'slum house'.

The Yellow Birds:

In this short clip from 'the yellow birds' it shows a good example of the natural outdoor lighting and how they have been able to maintain that same contrast throughout the entire scene, even when inside. We are able to see the shadows behind the men relating back to the verisimilitude of the film.