Audiences and institutions: The Woman in Black (Watkins 2012)

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

The primary audience for the film is likely to be people under the age of 25. The main priority is likely to be boys although the inclusion of Daniel Radcliffe is likely to of excited many girls. The secondary target audience is probably horror enthusiasts.



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

The genre is horror and the sub genre is supernatural. The woman in black was marketed through all media platforms; cinema, magazine,newspapers and adverts. The target audience is men and women under the age of 25. They promoted the film through the use of competitions and accesories. The size of the campaign was fairly big because of the amount of media platforms the advertised on.


3. Do you think the marketing materials for the film were appropriate? why?

I think the marketing materials were appropriate because they played on the strenths of having Daniel Radcliffe as the main actor. They showed his face on every poster and advert. Just to entice fans of the world class actor to come watch.


4. What kind of release did the film have? (big/small? How many cinemas showed the film on its release?)

The film had a fantastic release on the first weekend it made $20,874,072. There were 2855 cinemas showing the film on its release and it has been dubbed the most succesful English horror film of all time.


5. How much did The Woman in Black cost to make? (production budget) AND what was the industry impact of the Woman in Black? (Think box office and trends).

The woman in black cost 17 and a 1/2 million dollars to make. However it made profits of 127 million dollars making it the most succesful British horror film ever made.


6.Why do you think the film was so successful (You must come up with at least two reasons).

It`s likely one of the main reasons for the films success was the fact Daniel Radcliffe played the leading role. It`s likely fans of the Harry Potter franchise would of been extremely interested to come and watch the film just because of his involvement.


Another reason for the sucess is probably because of the amount of advertising that the makers of the film did. The advertising went across all areas of media from newspapers to adverts on TV.