Alicia - question 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

• The intended audience for my film ‘Payday’ would be the 18-35 age range. This is because the film would develop into something more sinister with intentions to appeal to spectators who enjoy terror and gore. It wouldn’t turn into a ‘horror’ film with supernatural or evil elements, it would merely develop into something more mentally challenging for younger viewers. Having said this, I would rate the film a certificate ‘15’ in order to attract a younger demographic, but would intentionally be more appropriate for people of an older age.
• I did a survey asking 30 people questions about thriller films. I made sure 15 were male and 15 were female in order to get reliable and comparable results.

RESULTS

·         By looking at the results above, I have come to the conclusion that the male sex would be most interested in my film as the majority have a higher interest in the thriller genre than women.

·         But also, the fact that the overall most enjoyable genre is ‘psychological’ relates to my film as it follows this genre also.

·         This means that although men have a higher taste for thrillers then women, at least if a female was to watch a thriller film then it would be one which fitted the genre my film follows, indicating that my film could suit both male and female, giving it a wider demographic and more of a chance to succeed.

• Psychological thrillers are a popular brand of thriller film; therefore when in the process of releasing my film I must be aware to target my audience beforehand to prevent from clashing with other thrillers. This will become easier for me as I am aware of my audience and fan base now because of what the statistics show.

A newly released thriller film ‘Hunger Games’ has hyped up a large demographic already within the first few weeks of release. Although this film doesn’t have the same qualities as my film in terms of the fact it isn’t exactly ‘psychological’, but it targets the same demographic that mine is aimed at. Therefore, I asked the same 30 people about this film…

This goes to show that what an audience of the thriller genre is looking for is a genuinely good thriller film that will have them on the edge of their seat. Therefore, creating a psychological thriller fits into this category of ‘sitting on the edge of your seat’ and it plays with the mind of the audience, which therefore demonstrates how I have grasped the idea of which audience type would be suitable for me and my film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/ - Hunger Games (IMDb)

http://www.imdb.com/genre/thriller - Thriller Genres (IMDb)