Liz Hearney's A2 media blog

Who do you think the primary and secondary target audience is for The Woman in Black? Why?

I think the primary audience for The Woman In Black is males between the age of 12 and 24 who like horror films and the horror genre. This is because of the many jump scares in the film, and the general theme of death, sadness and the paranormal. This is also because males of this age are the primary audience for most horror films, and therefore for this film too. The secondary audience is, in my opinion, people who like the Harry Potter franchise, as the main character, Arthur Kipps, is played by Daniel Radcliffe, who was Harry Potter in the films. This could lead to the secondary audience being a range of ages, as they could've liked Harry Potter from when the books first came out, when the films came out or from having watched them one they were all released.

How was The Woman in Black marketed? (Think about genre(s), subgenre(s), media platforms, target audience, promotions, size of campaign, etc.)

The film producers of The Woman In Black did lots of marketing for the film, but so did the main actor, Daniel Radcliffe. After beginning his career in the Harry Potter franchise, he was trying hard to get away from it and show he could be a serious actor. After lots of theatre work, The Woman In Black was his first film, meaning that he conducted lots of interviews and Q&As about the film, magazine interview articles, and created things such as a Facebook page for the film to try and create publicity, as he wanted the film to be successful to emphasise the fact that he was a serious actor. Some other marketing methods used for The Woman In Black were the original book being re-released with a new cover, featuring Daniel Radcliffe and a scene from the film, the book was also used as a free gift in newspapers, along side often large copies of the poster in newspapers like 'The Sun'. Merchandise was also produced for the film, such as T-shirts, mugs, key rings and lanyards. After the film, The Woman In Black was developed into live performances, which often attracted school groups to go and see it, not only helping make the film more popular but also increase sales after the DVD release.

Do you think the marketing materials for the film were appropriate? Why?

Once watching the film and discovering the age circulation was a 12, I personally feel as though the film should've been age rated to at least a 15. Due to the content revealed within the film, for instance a spiritual presence as well as the amount of jumpy and horrific scenes included. When observing the horror trailer, it identified what the film is about but limited the amount of information. It displayed to us that Daniel Radcliffe job was a sales man, who is traveling to another town to sell a house. Once reaching his destination everyone shuts their doors on him, for what reason we do not know. Once getting to the house, he looks around and then discovers he is not alone. We see children in the trailer, meaning we are identified that the film is relevant to children, who must play a significant role within it. Also we are shown a cross, meaning perhaps religion has a role within the film also. This is also displayed within the poster, as well as forest to the far left hand side which appears to be dark and misty. We are shown the women in black, however her identity is kept hidden. Between Daniel and the woman in black is a large house, perhaps indicating to us they both have a significance to the house. Also only one light is on in the house, showing us as an audience that maybe there is one main room which connect these two characters together.

What kind of release did the film have?

The film had a huge world wide premiere, inviting a wide variety of celebrities to come in order to generate more buzz for the public as well as make a huge fuss over the film. The reasons for doing this, was in hope for general positive feedback before the film was released to every cinema. The feedback would mainly be posted on social media websites such as Twitter, making those who haven't seen it want to watch it, as well as viewing celebrities comments will also make everyone want to see it so they can relate to them. On the opening weekend in the USA the film made $20,874,072, on the week of its release it was displayed in 2,855 cinemas and the week after 2,856.

How much did The Woman in Black cost to make? What was the industry impact of The Woman in Black?

The Woman in Black financial cost was around 15 million US dollars, a fair amount of the money was spent on advertising to ensure the film was as successful and gaining much profit. The film achieved a box office record, being the most successful horror film in British history. Observing the success of the movie, the film was at the top of the charts in the UK for 3 weeks, evidently leading to a gross of $47,729,196 over the course of 3 weeks when it was first released.

Why do you think the film was so successful?

One of the main reasons for the films success, was due to the advertisement that Daniel Radcliffe done for the film. He created a YouTube page doing Q&A's, as well as providing the audience with information and sneak peaks in order to create the right amount of buzz for the film. He also created many social media pages, in order to grab the younger audiences attention. He also aimed for the older audiences as well, for this he done interviews on TV talk-shows as well as doing interviews for magazines in order to get the film out there as much as possible fulfilling every possible outcome for all to view and hear. The company also done much advertisement, such as putting the poster in newspapers and radio adverts, also aiming for the older audiences. Although the older audiences isn't there primary audience. Another reason for the films success, I feel is the main character being Daniel Radcliffe. He was well known for his role in Harry Potter films, for him to feature in a horror film was something completely different to what he has previously been in. Having him featured all over their posters and trailers attracted the Harry Potter fans, providing the right amount of mixture audiences they needed.