CINEMA AUDIENCES

    Watching a film is a favorite pastime, as films take us to other worlds and away from our own problems. For this reason, the film industry is one of the biggest sectors and film corporations are among the giants of the global market. Although almost everyone likes to watch movies, movie lovers vary greatly in terms of their preferences and expectations.

      One category of film viewers is thrill seekers. They like to feel the rush of adrenalin, hear their hearts beating and have their breath taken away while watching a film. This experience is the best way for such people to feel alive in their free time and to escape from the realities of their lives. Thrillers with lots of action, high tech sound effects and loud scenes of murder or escape are perfect films for these adrenaline junkies. Recently, more and more thrillers in 3D are being produced to provide an even greater experience of adventure and excitement. Fantastic films like The Lord of the Rings are a good example. Serial killers, underground gangs and people with supernatural skills, detectives, intelligence service people, victims etc are the characters of  films that thrill seekers are quite fond of.

       There is another group of viewers who don’t watch films in order to experience breathless moments or adrenaline, they seek to expand their general knowledge and feel their horizions get wider as they are watching a film. They like to watch documentaries about politics, nature or different cultures. These people are generally curious people who have many questions in their minds about history, the universe or life in general. After a hard day at work, spending their evening at home exploring the depths of the universe in a documentary on the universe or traveling to an important point in history and learning about social and political events gives them indescribable joy. This kind of viewer also enjoys biographies about important people in history, politics or science. They are mostly also keen readers with intellectual curiosity.

    Viewers can also be categorized according to age. Children, for example, enjoy cartoons and animations with princesses and fairy tale characters. In cartoons, there is always a hero that overcomes a challange with the help of friends and also by being good people with a strong sense of ethics. Animations don’t only appeal to children, they actually attract people of all ages. Most of the animation makers aim to make them films for families to watch together and have fun together as a family. That’s why, certain jokes and references are there for adults, parents or grandparents. Young people, on the other hand, enjoy thrillers most. Of course, this is just a generalization and there may be teenagers who enjoy documentaries or biographies. On the other hand, adults and older adults mostly enjoy dramas and historical films which make them reflect on the meaning of life, the challanges of life, lessons others learn from life, and in general, leave the cinema having learned more or reflected on life.

    In conclusion, people’s film preferences seem to be influenced by their personality, their inclination or age. However, sometimes, just one film may change one’s preference all together, like one very good documentary may open a habitual thrill seeker to the whole new world of documentaries or biographies. Or a friend may introduce you to a new genre. The film industry is here to stay and continue to develop more and more films of different kinds and appeal to all kinds of audience.