Media products are constructed with purpose, they aim to reach certain audiences. Media producers have to use various techniques in order to discover the audiences needs and desires, as well as ensuring the product contains codes and conventions which will bring in viewers.
The film I have chosen to discuss is 'The Hobbit' which the first film was released in 2012. I feel that 'The Hobbit' has a lot to discuss in terms of it's audience due to it's existing fanbase from the books and 'The Lord of Rings' films. The films were all rated PG-13 considering the violence within some of the scenes.
Media Producers have to do audience profiling in order to know how to make their product appeal to the right people. Audience profiling allows producers to narrow down their audience assisting in finding the products target audience which allows them to produce and market the product successfully. A target audience is an audience which is most relevant and connected to the media product.
There are important factors which media producers must consider, these are listed below.
Personally I feel that PG-13 is an appropriate rating for the films, each of the films contains scenes involving fights/battles, these could be considered too violent for children, as well as this some of the creatures within the films such as Trolls and Orcs could be frightening to a young audience. However alongside that with very slight use of alcohol, drug use and profanity the films are suitable for anyone over the age of 13.
There are important factors which media producers must consider, these are listed below.
- Age
- Gender
- Religion
- Race
- Sexuality
- Education
- Annual Income
- Media Interests
- `Buying Habbits
Personally I feel that PG-13 is an appropriate rating for the films, each of the films contains scenes involving fights/battles, these could be considered too violent for children, as well as this some of the creatures within the films such as Trolls and Orcs could be frightening to a young audience. However alongside that with very slight use of alcohol, drug use and profanity the films are suitable for anyone over the age of 13.
Addressing audiences:
The Hobbit genre is listed as Adventure, Fantasy. Due to the film being an adaptation of a children's book, to gain a larger audience the film had to be of a lower rating so it would be appropriate for the young audience which already existed. Though there are scenes which appeal to a older audience and jokes are made which young adults and adults will understand the film is appropriate to most from 10+. As well as the existing audience from the book, there is an existing audience from The Lord of the Rings films, therefore the films will need to appeal to that audience as well, which they did by including characters within Lord of the Rings and beginning and ending the trilogy so that it links with the Lord of the Rings films.
The film consists of the protagonist, an underdog character going outside of his comfort zone in order to help those in need. Though he relies on the others of the company throughout the films, he also carries the company at times portraying the character as strong but will rely on others when needed. This is also the same within The Lord of the Rings, where the protagonist is an underdog character who relies on friends and others in order to help save their world.
Though as well as this there are characters which seem strong when first shown but as the films develop, they must rely on others as well. This can be seen within 'The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies' when Thorin has been affected by the gold sickness as replies on Bilbo and the other members of his company to overcome this and be able to fight again. This is a good message to portray to the younger members of the audience, giving the film a deeper message.
Personally I believe that Bilbo is portrayed as a stay at home, creature of habit in order to relate to some members of the audience, as well as this it add charm and humour to his character making him liked by the audience. With the wide range of characters which are introduced throughout the three films all with their own personalities and character traits, there is a character which the audience will take a liking to and may relate to, this makes the audience engage in the film more.
Since The Hobbit is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings the media producers already had an existing audience demographic from those films, therefore they could use the demographic from The Lord of the Rings to know how to market The Hobbit in order to appeal to the existing audience and a new audience.
Ian Mckellen, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood are just some of the actors that had roles within The Lord of the Rings and play the same characters which make appearances in The Hobbit. As these characters were popular in The Lord of the Rings, to keep the existing audiences interest they made sure the same actors played their characters that would reappear in The Hobbit. As well as this The Hobbit has actors which are famous within the UK and globally, such as Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Lee Pace, Hugo Weaving and Luke Evans. These actors are all popular among females as they are attractive , as well as this, they are well known actors and fans of them will be tempted to see The Hobbit for them.
As I mentioned the genre for The Hobbit is Adventure/Fantasy, the film fits the genre codes, the film is based on the adventure of Thorin's company reclaiming their homeland, slaying the dragon and finding the arkenstone. For the fantasy part, the film contains mythological creature such as Orcs, Trolls, Dwarves, Hobbits, Wizards, Elves, Wargs etc. The media producers had to ensure the film followed the book to a point, since the book's the same genre.
Though as well as this there are characters which seem strong when first shown but as the films develop, they must rely on others as well. This can be seen within 'The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies' when Thorin has been affected by the gold sickness as replies on Bilbo and the other members of his company to overcome this and be able to fight again. This is a good message to portray to the younger members of the audience, giving the film a deeper message.
Personally I believe that Bilbo is portrayed as a stay at home, creature of habit in order to relate to some members of the audience, as well as this it add charm and humour to his character making him liked by the audience. With the wide range of characters which are introduced throughout the three films all with their own personalities and character traits, there is a character which the audience will take a liking to and may relate to, this makes the audience engage in the film more.
Since The Hobbit is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings the media producers already had an existing audience demographic from those films, therefore they could use the demographic from The Lord of the Rings to know how to market The Hobbit in order to appeal to the existing audience and a new audience.
Ian Mckellen, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood are just some of the actors that had roles within The Lord of the Rings and play the same characters which make appearances in The Hobbit. As these characters were popular in The Lord of the Rings, to keep the existing audiences interest they made sure the same actors played their characters that would reappear in The Hobbit. As well as this The Hobbit has actors which are famous within the UK and globally, such as Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Lee Pace, Hugo Weaving and Luke Evans. These actors are all popular among females as they are attractive , as well as this, they are well known actors and fans of them will be tempted to see The Hobbit for them.
As I mentioned the genre for The Hobbit is Adventure/Fantasy, the film fits the genre codes, the film is based on the adventure of Thorin's company reclaiming their homeland, slaying the dragon and finding the arkenstone. For the fantasy part, the film contains mythological creature such as Orcs, Trolls, Dwarves, Hobbits, Wizards, Elves, Wargs etc. The media producers had to ensure the film followed the book to a point, since the book's the same genre.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit begins in Hobbitton, Hobbitton is bright and colourful with a pallet of yellows and greens. These colours portray Hobbitton as a peaceful place, it's a place where they are unaware of the outside world. However as the stories progresses the colours change to a darker pallet of reds and oranges, this portrays the other places as dangerous to the audience. Though the innocence of the hobbits is shown through their clothes, Sam, Frodo, Pippin and Merry can all be seen wearing slightly brighter colours than the other members of the company.
The colours in the posters for The Hobbit begin quite bright, however each poster gets darker, this symbolises to the audience that the films get darker as the trilogy continues and it gives the audience an expectation of how dark the film may be. |
Reviews
As shown below the reviews for the trilogy are very mixed, when compared to The Lord of the Rings the reviews aren't as positive. Though there are some positive reviews, most are criticisms about the film, though the films were successful in the box office most of the reviews don't reflect this.
The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey:
As shown below the reviews for the trilogy are very mixed, when compared to The Lord of the Rings the reviews aren't as positive. Though there are some positive reviews, most are criticisms about the film, though the films were successful in the box office most of the reviews don't reflect this.
The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey:
The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug:
The Hobbit The Battle of The Five Armies:
References:
. https://www.slideshare.net/mattwako/how-media-producers-define-their-target-audience-19065036
. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/
. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1170358/
. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2310332/
. https://www.slideshare.net/mattwako/how-media-producers-define-their-target-audience-19065036
. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/
. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1170358/
. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2310332/