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to find out on their frequency of visiting cinemas. Research on audiences based on the films that they
watched has also been done to gain data on the age and types of the audience of films that they watch.
Apart from audiences, advertising is also one of the sectors that are researched to study the effectiveness
of cinemas for the agencies to place their advertisement. However, this study merely focuses on the data
collection in the United Kingdom; the location that I would like to focus on is Malaysia due to the study
proposed. Taking inspiration and information from the studies conducted in the United Kingdom, I would
like to implement aspects of it into the surveys I would like to distribute in collecting information from the
Malaysian film audience.
In Audiences: Defining and Researching Screen Entertainment Reception by Ian Christie, a chapter
entitled “What Do We Know About Film Audiences?” in the book discusses on United Kingdom’s studies
on the film industry. Since 1917, the film industry has been researching academically and commercially. In
2009, studies were conducted by the UK Film Council to find out what film “means” to the mass audience.
The “means” is measured by how films shape and contribute to the United Kingdom’s culture. Studies
have discovered how films have an impact on their audience after some time just like music and literature,
and individuality in the audience responding to films. In looking at how films can contribute to culture
through an anthropology view, films are seen on how they are represented and the impact that they have
made on the whole country and all of the United Kingdom. Audiences were studied on how they identified
with the film for being represented as British or not. Studies on audiences include their consumption,
media, and how it has influenced them. It was found that most audiences consume films on television and
DVDs, while the least were through mobile devices and onboard planes during flights. The frequency of
watching was mostly at least once a month on television, on DVDs and in cinemas. Watching films in
cinemas has become a rising interest among UK citizens and has become a culture more than going out to
the countryside, enjoying other art forms, and religious activities. Besides film categorisation in the survey
was different from genres used in film discourses, It has shown that most audiences felt that films were
artistic and some felt that it was educational. It shows that films made for mass audiences are still
perceived by audiences individually according to their background and understanding. The study shows
that certain films connect to the audience because they can relate to the historical context and know about
other cultures around them. The study shows that most audiences can identify themselves with the last
British films that they have watched. Some also thought that UK films need to be much more realistic and
real to life. Films that have psychological and emotional impacts are usually repeated by the audience due
to the effects on them. Digitalisation has also helped audiences to consume films more rapidly and are
participating in the implementation of higher technological advances in filmmaking. It is concluded that
films have been part of the cultural value in the UK and mobile viewing of films can help to thrive further.
However, much like the study from before, this study has been focused mostly on the United Kingdom's
creative industry and its local audience. It lacks insight into other countries such as Malaysia, but through
this study, I can see how the audiences in another country respond and deduce that similar reactions could
occur with our Malaysian local audiences as well.
With the digitisation of film we see today, the films of the past are often overlooked, especially
the experience one may have felt during the time, as Van de Heide (2002) admits that the film-viewing
experience back then was different. Socially, everyone in 1994 still enjoyed watching P. Ramlee films and
celebrates it. It was played in public transportation, especially on buses, everyone sang the songs from the
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