AUDIENCES

Mainstream vs Niche Audiences

Case Studies Of Mainstream/Niche Films:

Eraserhead -Niche

Avatar- Mainstream

Memento- Niche

Harry Potter- Mainstream

Oldboy -Niche

Jaws-Mainstream

​

Mainstream Audience: Popular, Wide Appeal.

A mainstream audience is known to incorporate a wide range of people, something with popular appeal. This audience would be involved in the texts for entertainment or social integration, some may feel they need to watch mainstream media texts because it makes easier to be involved in conversations with friends ,family and any type of social life.

Example: Avatar was a very popular film therefore would appeal to a lot of people. Avatar was easily available screened at lots of cinemas all over the world, it was rated PG 13 and released during a holiday period. The narrative is easily accessible for all ages and genders.

Holiday Period= A large amount of people have time, in the mood to spend their disposable income.

Niche Audience: Specific, Small.

Refers to a specific, particularly small group of people. The media product would be unpopular. These tend to watch media texts that are interesting to them in particular. Media texts may be more difficult to access and have less coverage across media platforms. Niche audiences tend to be people that are more individual based.

Example: “Memento” would have a niche audience. It was released at the Sundance film festival, not screened in cinemas and went straight to DVD. It was rated R for violence, language and some drug content. It features a complex and disturbing narrative. Therefore would only appeal to a small, niche target audience.

​

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAINSTREAM AND NICHE:

1. MAINSTREAM MEANS IT APPEALS TO A WIDE AUDIENCE.

2. NICHE MEANS IT APPEALS TO A VERY SMALL, SPECIFIC AUDIENCE.

A mainstream movie would be something like Avatar, while a niche movie would be something like City of god.

Mainstream Movies List:

1. The Avengers

2. Jurassic Park

3. Titanic

4. Back To The Future

5. Finding Dory

6. The Dark Knight

7. Inception

Niche Movie List:

1. PI

2. Requiem for a dream

3. Mulholland Drive

4. Donnie Darko

5. My neighbor Totoro

Research one mainstream film and one niche audience.

Mainstream:

1. Name: Black Hawk Down

2. Production Company: Columbia Films, Revolution Studios, Scott Free Productions, Jerry Bruckheimer Films

3. Release date and year: December 28th, 2001.

4. Director: Ridley Scott

5. Actors: Eric Bana, Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy.

6. Genre: War Film, History, Drama, Action.

7. Country Of Production: Rabat, Morocco.

8. Runtime: 2 Hours 32 Minutes

9. Who is the target audience:  People who like war films

10. Synopsis: The film takes place in 1993 when the U.S. sent special forces into Somalia to destabilize the government and bring food and humanitarian aid to the starving population. Using Black Hawk helicopters to lower the soldiers onto the ground, an unexpected attack by Somalian forces brings two of the helicopters down immediately. From there, the U.S. soldiers must struggle to regain their balance while enduring heavy gunfire.

11. Box Office Revenue: 173 Million USD.

12. Budget: 92 Million USD.

13. Revenue: 169959068 USD.

​

Niche: 

1. Name: City Of God

2. Production Company: Globo Filmes

3. Release Date and Year: 2002

4. Director: Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund

5. Actors: Alice Braga, Seu Jorge, Paulo Lins.

6. Genre: Crime Film,  Drama Film.

7. Country Of Production: Brazil

8. Runtime: 2 Hours 15 Minutes

9. Who is the target: Police, People who like crime films.

10. What is it about: In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood. José "Zé" Pequeno (Leandro Firmino da Hora) is an ambitious drug dealer who uses Rocket and his photos as a way to increase his fame as a turf war erupts with his rival, "Knockout Ned" (Seu Jorge).

11. Box Office Revenue: 32,059,295 Dollars

12. How much did it cost to produce:  3.3 Million USD.

13. Revenue: N/A

Which one is the most effective at targeting their audience? Mainstream or Niche.

Black Hawk Down's advertising was very effective at targeting their audiences. Since action and shoot 'em up movies are mainstream, it gained a lot of attention when it was announced in 2001 in the US. Since it was based off a real life event US Soldiers experienced it gained a lot of attention from veteran communities and normal citizens alike. The producers of black hawk down also advertised it in other countries worldwide such as South Korea, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Black Hawk Down spent a lot of money of advertisement (no figure can be found), BHD was advertised on Television, Billboards, Promotional Pictures, Posters, Books, DVDs and anymore. BHD grabbed the attention of a lot of people including my dad who watched it when it released in Thailand.

City Of God's advertising was less efficient than Black Hawk Down, instead the film spread to other countries via word of mouth. It was released in Brazil (Home Country) in 2002 and released worldwide in 2003. City Of God was advertised through movie posters, small billboards and radio channels. Even though it was niche, city of god won many awards in the US and UK. However in Asia, city of god was unheard of since City Of God wasn't advertised in Thailand.

I would have to say that BHD was more successful targeting their audience. This is because action-war films is a mass genre which everybody likes. BHD also had more money and more funding to spend on advertising therefore they can efficiently target people on a global scale compared to City Of God which had to target people mostly in their own country (Brazil). In the end, BHD was more efficient in targeting their audience than City Of God.

​

Would our coursework short film be niche or mainstream?

= Our coursework would be mainstream as we are aiming for Comedy.

​

​

​

​

​