Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

When deciding who our production would target we considered the age, gender and class of the audience in order to maximize the success during its promotion. We settled on the demographic being males and females, aged from 15 to 25. 

To decide on the age we first researched into the BBFC guidelines, as to what is acceptable to include in a production to be viewed by 15 year olds. We found that:

• Language may be strong however used in an appropriate manner, 
• the threat can be strong with no inclusion of sexual threat
• Sexual context with limited detail
• violence should not dwell on the infliction of pain. 

After researching these guidelines we believed that looking at our opening sequence with limited and non graphic violence that the narrative and scenes would be appropriate for this age range. An advantage of having a film targeted at a slightly younger audience means that our production can reach a mass audience as they are not restricted by any age boundaries. Using age 15+ we found is a common age in which films from the thriller genre are most popular as youths tend to be attracted to the tension,suspense and common conventions of the genre.

We kept the targeted gender appropriate for both male and females because, through our research, it was discovered that this genre is widely enjoyed by both genders and there is no predominant one whom the genre is more popular among. To achieve this we refrained from including any stereotypes which would suggest that the film is for only male or females. Therefore to subvert these we included a strong female protagonist and both males and female characters to relate to. Furthermore, no stereotypes could be suggested through use of costume or props as both were kept neutral and there was no emphasis on these, such as the sexualisation of females, through costume, which may be seen in a production targeted at males to satisfy the male gaze. Again having the film available for both males and females increases the variety to which the film will appeal and make profit.

Overall, i believe that we have successfully created a film which would appeal to the target audience of 15-25. Producing something with a target audience with a similar age to ourselves gives an advantage as we know what aspects to include based on what we would like to see. Our opinions can then be generalised to a wider population of a similar age with similar preferences to achieve a successful production.