ABSTRACT
A Research Proposal on Assessing Audience Preferences of Dramatic Genres in Nollywood Movies.
People use different mechanisms to satisfy their thirst for entertainment, information and communication and interestingly, there are myriads of entertainment alternatives, of which film forms a salient part of. These entertainment options, and in particular, film, attract numerous number of audiences due to the dual, simultaneous functions they play of entertainment and education. Moreso, the Nigerian society is characterized by a mad rush for avenues to escape the gloom of a socio-political climate seeing little progress.
Movies play a crucial role in this regard. They are adept at relaying messages in a manner that is based on the interest of a particular target audience. The existence of local and foreign movies alongside different dramatic genres of which there are comedy, tragedy or a fusion of these two, tragi-comedy, means film enthusiasts have a plethora of options to choose from. They are pretty much not restricted in their choice, and will decide on which form of dramatic representation to adopt based on the the level of satisfaction it give them and a host of other criteria like availability, movie attractiveness and even social influences. Of course, it is also important to note that the basic difference between these movie genres lies in the manner they depict human nature.
Over the past few years, the number of films produced and movie-goers have increased. It is not uncommon to hear people criticizing local films for being narrow, lacking originality, editing that could at best be described as pathetic, and for their superficially, similar plots. Even though there is a big appetite for a variety of film genres with different themes, movie producers seem to place audience preferences as a huge determinant of the kind of films they choose to churn out.
The purpose of this study, therefore, is to assess the film genre preferences of audience members. The vague conception of today’s film audience in the Nigerian scene has contributed to the loss of human and material resources in the production of films. This lies in the cognition that, without understanding the audience and what genre best suits them, the Nigerian filmmaker would only be pouring water into a basket.
The study will adopt the survey research method of gathering responses as questionnaires will be distributed across three cinemas in Benin City - Kada Cinema, Deepend Cinema, and Film House. The study will also be structured on the Uses and Gratification theory to explain how media audiences sieve through media options based on how effectively it satisfies their information, entertainment and personal identification needs.
