Evaluation: Question 5: How did you attract/address your target audience? - Miss Begum

My research into existing thriller films was important as it would later give me support in molding different ideas and elements from these thriller films to make one final media product. Secondary research is good as instead of working harder to make a product, without having enough detailed knowledge, I have the opportunity to get statistics and opinionated reviews on films and the thriller genre which set me up to create a thriller based media product.

From my own research into thriller films, I believe that the target audience that they appeal to consist of age, gender, ethnicity, occupation and, hobbies and interests. My own target audience for each of these are as follows:

My target audience: 

Age: 15-30

Gender: Unisex

Ethnicity: None Specific

Occupation: None Specific

Hobbies and Interests: Thrillers, Dark Themes, Mystery.

I believe that from the thriller films the target audience mostly enjoy the unusual element of surprise and mysterious plot twists which is something thrillers don’t find hard to achieve. From the thrillers I have personally experienced there has been a plot and without even having time to think they drop a twist in the storyline leading to the audience being more intrigued and curious as to what they have changed like the protagonist’ enemy being a family member. Many other genres have taken this procedure in their films using that plot twist and is rare in thrillers so for my final product to take the role I believe we are carrying on them legacy.

Further to this, the emotions I believe the audience are likely to experience are psychological and physiological as there are dark scenes in the thriller, with the only light scene coming from when the antagonist goes to open the door, which could have a deeper meaning to it. I find it a bit of a hair raiser towards the end as it shows the new antagonist getting ready to step out with his master, readying this sharp knife while still keeping his identity hidden, to a really deep and hard sound made on Logic.

I believe that this was good research as it meant that for my thriller I had to consider who my target audience were and why they were my target audience. This meant that when planning and carrying out different scenes in the media product I had to take note as to what the audience wanted to see and how they wanted to see it. This was good as the audience played a part in the production of the final product through their opinion.

From my research, the target audience I wanted to attract for my thriller were young adults entering the stage of their life where they had to start maturing which meant nothing too cheesy or predictable was to come off the final product. Making the antagonist a younger male was a good way to accomplish this as we broadened the barrier and allowed for young males to relate to the father/son bond that the antagonist and presumable victim have as seen in the opening sequence.

Attracting my audience by creating a questionnaire: 

I carried out a questionnaire because, I felt as if getting direct feedback from the general and target audience would have an impact on how my production towards the final product went. The importance of my questionnaire was key as I gathered more direct feedback on what was needed and how I could accomplish this from the necessary people.

Some of the key questions I asked to make sure that I was attracting my target audience were:

• What emotions do thrillers tend to bring out from you?
• What do you expect in a thriller film?
• What is your personal opinion of a thriller film?
• What is your favourite thriller film?

Multiple key questions to get more information to address my audiences needs:

These are 2 quotes that I got from my open minded questions which helped me make key decisions to ensure that I was attracting and addressing my target audience.

What is your favourite character role in a film?

Protagonist (Hero)    Anti-Hero (Unorthodox Hero)    Antagonist (Villain)

What sort of lighting will you expect in a thriller?

Dark Lighting    Medium Lighting    Light Lighting  

Key findings from my questionnaire presented as graphs to make decisions to include in my final product to ensure I was attracting and addressing my audiences responses: 

Overall, the primary research was important because I could use my own technique to gather direct feedback from the target audience of my choice which is good for my final product as I am receiving necessary information rather than that from an unnecessary audience. This really helped me to attract and address my target audience as my product was created using ideas from the target audience rather than from those I was not trying to target with my synopsis. 

Rough cut of opening to gain feedback to make sure I was addressing the audience: (FOCUS GROUP)

After creating my production, I held a focus group because I wanted to see what the audience felt of my work after watching it. This was good as they would have seen what their opinions mixed with my groups ideas had created. The people that were asked to come and view the production were of a younger age because of the target audience being between 15-30 years. Below I gathered some of the constructive criticism that I received from the audience while they were observing my final product;

Looking back at the feedback I received from the necessary audience for my final product I can say that I have attracted and addressed my target audience through narrative, theme and plot. By doing this I have reached out to my target audience through everything I have mentioned which is potentially what my audience were expecting to see.