Trying to figure out the average age of a 'Hobbit' Fan. (You don't have to be a Hobbit-Movie fan to do this poll)

Tinuviel wrote:Yep, tumblr. And I'm not sure most of them would want to stick around here because of all the PJ bashing we do. From what I've seen, there's ALOT of fanfiction fans over there... and I'm including the Hobbit films as fanfiction

That's certainly possible.  I recall that even several years after the LOTR films, a lot of the larger old forums tried to limit the amount and intensity of criticism of PJ on the basis that it might scare off new and especially younger members.  But given the rise of social media, which have utterly eclipsed forums in the past decade, most kids/teens are able to remove anyone who offends them from their newsfeed by blocking or unfriending them.  That can certainly be convenient at times, though I feel it's part of the reason why social media is really not such a great way for building communities with people who don't already know each other.

That said, there are obviously tons of adults on social media, and forums were never as mainstream as social media is now, so I'm not entirely confident in my generational argument.

I think RA has had an epiphany, its like he's seen the 'light' or something ? He sounds like a fountain of wisdom ? Or is this tactics    I think Im mellowing ? Oh Gawd   

Kernul hasn't popped back yet. But if you do, you really should modify your poll to ask age and thumbs up or thumbs down for the Hobbit movies. I think many people are not responding because of the implied assumption that if we are on The Hobbit Movie Forum we must like The Hobbit Movies.

Halfy's right. And if the fact that there are negative reactions to the films presented on this forum causes you to not want our input, I suggest possibly broadening your test group.

I gave kernul a few links to theonering.net and a couple subreddits where he might get a better response. He could just use one of the survey sites like Survey Monkey and ask on those sites. Not that I don't like having my voice heard.

Just a little reminder that not everything that comes from these movies is crap.

halfwise wrote:Kernul hasn't popped back yet.  But if you do, you really should modify your poll to ask age and thumbs up or thumbs down for the Hobbit movies.  I think many people are not responding because of the implied assumption that if we are on The Hobbit Movie Forum we must like The Hobbit Movies.

Hi Folks,

I do realize that a lot of you don't like the movies, I was just trying to figure out average age on this forum, irrespective of whether you like the movie or not. A lot of Tolkien fans do not have a high opinion of the Hobbit movies, no matter which forum you go to. I will post the results here if I can make a correlation, so far by doing small focus groups, I'm beginning to see that the younger people lap up whatever is thrown at them by the blockbuster industry (there are exceptions, obviously), while the older ones are more critical.

I think its also because the younger ones (14 - 18) go to the cinema because "going to the cinema" is a thing to do on weekends, not necessarily watching something they want to watch. A lot of young people decide what they want to watch when they get to the cinema, as opposed to an older crowd who'd read reviews or watch trailers before they go buy a ticket.

I shall change the poll so its clear that you don't have to like the movie to in order to do the poll.

I appreciate the feedback everybody, thanks a bunch!

I'm beginning to see that the younger people lap up whatever is thrown at them by the blockbuster industry- Kernul

Yes well thats feckless youth for you, they dont deserve to have their youth if they are just going to squander it!   


"while the older ones are more critical"

This is true, I can, on rare occasions, demonstrate a small show of criticism.   

'an older crowd who'd read reviews or watch trailers before they go buy a ticket.'

Buy a ticket?! With actual money? Open up my sporran and buy a ticket with actual money, open up my sporran and buy a ticket with actual money and thus give PJ even more money for this earwax dribble?- what a novel idea, and a hideous one!!  

'This is true, I can, on rare occasions, demonstrate a small show of criticism'. Petty

 

azriel wrote:I think RA has had an epiphany, its like he's seen the 'light' or something ?  He sounds like a fountain of wisdom ? Or is this tactics    I think Im mellowing ? Oh Gawd   

  

kernul wrote:

I think its also because the younger ones (14 - 18) go to the cinema because "going to the cinema" is a thing to do on weekends, not necessarily watching something they want to watch. A lot of young people decide what they want to watch when they get to the cinema, as opposed to an older crowd who'd read reviews or watch trailers before they go buy a ticket.

I remember hearing Peter Jackson say that the number of young people that go to the cinema had dropped and the "new technology" (i.e. gimmicks) like 3D and HFR/48 fps were supposed to get them back in the theater.

Kids have all sorts of screens these days: smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions. And there's recent data that shows the attendance of young people at the theater is dropping.

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/03/26/young-people-arent-going-to-the-movies-anymore&view=comments

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/number-of-frequent-young-moviegoers-plummets-in-2013-1201146426/

There's also evidence for this in that no movie this summer has cracked the 300 million mark (US Domestic Box Office), and the only recent one to do so was Frozen, a movie aimed more at children. The highest grossing movie this summer has been Transformers 4, and I'm willing to bet a lot of money that mostly the demographic we're talking about went to that movie.

Would you say that, for young people, "going to the cinema" will remain a staple of weekend activities? Or do you see it falling out of favor? You seem to know more about this than anyone here (I'm assuming you're a marketing student or something like that).

Yes, I am a film marketing/distribution student. And you're right, cinema attendance is falling because all the other devices are catching up. Big screen TVs at home, hand-held HD devices, great headphones, blah blah blah... everything is fighting for our attention now. Its a very different scenario now than it was years ago when the only way to catch a quality film experience was to go to the cinema.

However, what these devices can't compete with is the social element of going out. Cinema is a bit of an event; you get together with friends/family/hamster, go out, maybe get something to eat, etc. It becomes a night out.

The data that we have access to shows no drop in cinema attendance for teens. Maybe the summer of 2013 was a bad summer for films? Also, it says people in their 40s are going to the cinema more than they were. Marketeers are hard at work making cinemas more of an "event thing" - I guess they want our money badly :-/

Marketeers are hard at work making cinemas more of an "event thing"- Kernul

And thats why the films suck and all the good drama and writers have moved to tv.

Also, the reason no young people go to the theater anymore is because tickets are ruthlessly expensive! I'm a college student and can't afford an $11 movie willy nilly! I have to plan which films I want to see which are few and far between anyway because most films these days are pandering to visual spectacle rather than story, like the hobbit films. You don't need to make new technology that will only make films more expensive. Make good movies that are cheaper!

halfwise wrote:

We have a mix of ages here from teenage to 50s, and nobody likes the films.

Actually, Norc does.

Yepp they're entrrtaining, although not as great as lotr and i admit it has it's flaws

Young people are critical as well we don't just swallow Whatever we Get, but yes we go to the movied and watches films we don't partuculalry like because it's a social thing to do

Also the poll should have different ages. 8 and 18 are pretty different. May i suggest 7-13, 14-16, 17-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74.

bungobaggins wrote:There's also evidence for this in that no movie this summer has cracked the 300 million mark (US Domestic Box Office), and the only recent one to do so was Frozen, a movie aimed more at children. The highest grossing movie this summer has been Transformers 4, and I'm willing to bet a lot of money that mostly the demographic we're talking about went to that movie.

Summer 2014 has been exceptional in that no movie has really broken out and grossed a ton of money.  Adjusting for inflation, the #1 movie of this summer is going to be one of the lowest such winners since the blockbuster era began in the mid-late 1970s.  However, this is something of a fluke, I think (and it's also worth noting that summer isn't quite as essential as it used to be, with the holiday season being just as lucrative for some movies and even spring being tested as a blockbuster release season the last couple years).  In addition to Frozen, the last two years have given us both Hunger Games movies, Iron Man 3, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight Rises over $400M, as well as Despicable Me 2, Skyfall, and AUJ over $300M.  2012 broke the records for most $400M and most $300M movies in a single year, though obviously inflation plays a role in that.

I think part of the problem is that the blockbuster model has become more and more franchise-based since about 2000, and the number of attempts at making new franchises has dwindled because they are so expensive to try to launch these days.  In fantasy, the Warcraft movie that's coming out in 2016(?) will be the first new series attempt in years (not counting reboot/sequels like Alice or Oz).  For every Hunger Games, you have half a dozen failed YA adaptations.  In the superhero genre, Guardians of the Galaxy is the first new property since the failure of Green Lantern, but even then it has its connection to the broader Marvel Cinematic Universe to help it.