Profile
The general target age for the audience I am basing this trailer on is from mid-teenagers to young adults as this will be the age of the characters in it. The morals brought to life in it are also more abundant with that generation because it is something that they should be aware of. Although there is no sexual content or physical violence, we decided to give the film a certificate 15 as there is some verbal abuse and aggressive behaviour.
Despite the film being targeted at both males and females, it is predominantly a female based film as the main character is a female and they will be able to connect with that character more, especially as the issues brought to light are those that affect women more than men. At the same time, the film does include some violent natured scenes and this content often appeals to men more than women so hopefully, the film appeals enough to both males and females that we will have a larger audience.
Both characters featured in the film are of a heterosexual nature and in the beginning have a relationship. The film trailer highlights him being overprotective and aggressive to his girlfriend which highlights a stereotypically male heterosexual trait. The girl on the other hand is weak and helpless, which is also typical of a girl in that position. The audience will typically be of a heterosexual background to be able to have a better understanding of what is being portrayed and because of this, there will be a larger audience to base the film on
This film is based mainly around the middle class lifestyle and there are no issues of money or poverty involved. Luckily, nowadays, people of a higher class aren’t as opposed to having involvement with people of a lower or middle class and will have no objection to watching it which means we can aim it at all classes. Some people, though, may find the nature slightly distressing or may object to their children watching it which could put them off.
The main character in the film is a student who is only around 16 years old whilst her boyfriend is around the age of 20 and would have just left. Although his occupation is never made clear, based on the stereotype we are using on him, I think the audience would assume he works somewhere in the labour field. People watching this film will be predominantly students, as that is the target age we are hoping to reach, however people of any occupation can watch it. It would be stereotyping to assume people with more professional jobs such as accountants and lawyers will object to watching it, but I believe there will be a narrower audience around that market as the narrative isn’t as appealing to that audience.
The setting for this film is in rural Britain as it makes the location appear more isolated which will be more fear-provoking for the audience as it will make them feel as if there is no one around to protect the character and will increase a sense of foreboding and loneliness. As well as this, the British film genre is accredited for bringing to light ideologies, usually about the working class, however this will make the film less frowned upon as it would be amongst some societies due to the content of it.
As it will be mainly students watching the film, education levels will vary as different people will be studying at different levels, however the film doesn’t set out to target a niche audience as the bigger an audience, the more money can be made from it and therefore people of every educational background should watch it. Although, as mentioned earlier, people with a more professional educational background may not be as likely to watch it as someone with a less professional background as, based on stereotypes, we automatically assume people with a lower level of degree will be more open minded and won’t have a problem watching films with some scenes involving aggressive behaviour.
Overall, the film is going to be targeted at as large an audience as possible, but predominantly it will be younger adults and those who are into movies with a more thrilling/adrenaline seeking nature. They will probably have an open mind to as some people would be opposed to the nature involved with the film and wouldn’t want to watch it because of this, although there is no gore involved, which would be likely to put more people off. Luckily this film targets a large audience and would be watched by people from all sorts of backgrounds and ideologies.
Analysis
The genre we decided to do was thriller, which means the film is based at people who enjoy watching films that keep them on the edge of their seat and makes them jump. Enjoying this genre myself, I am aware that it sells so well because of the adrenaline rush people get out of watching it. The scarier a film, the better the adrenaline rush and the more likely people are to want to watch it again, similar to going on thrill seeking rides such as rollercoaster’s. We tried to make this film based on a large degree of reality as this makes the audience more aware that it could actually happen and therefore it is more likely to scare them as they are left thinking ‘what if that happens to me?’
We are trying to follow the codes and conventions of a typical thriller as best as possible as this is what the audience want to see. To try and pick up on the best codes and conventions, we did some research into a few horror and thriller films, and ended up focusing on Taken, Gothika and Creep and found some common ground between them. Firstly, low key lighting is used to build up suspense and create a spooky atmosphere, which works especially well as the audience don’t know whether there is something in the dark either. As well as this, fast cuts are used when there is more action so that everything appears faster and more dramatic.
We have picked up on a few of these codes and conventions and have involved them in our film so that hopefully we can connect better with the audience.
To promote this film, we would probably put a trailer on the television, as this can be viewed by a wide audience and will get more people interested. As well as this, we might use viral marketing on web 2.0 by putting trailers on sites such as Facebook and MySpace that will be viewed by a larger audience but predominantly the target age group we’re looking to appeal too. When it came to distributing to cinemas, we would probably use a Modified Wide Release Pattern which means we would open the film up in a few large markets, and then once awareness has built up via trailers and word of mouth, we would proliferate to other markets whilst constantly advertising, and then eventually, maybe advertise on a National Level.
