Evaluation- Part Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our Thriller would be working/ middle class teenagers aged 16 to 22. This is a younger audience than what Thrillers are usually aimed at but the use of younger characters and a focus on the victims would appeal more to a younger audience. More specifically the film would appeal more to males of this age due the genre being action, crime and intrigue and the film explores darker themes and would contain violence which would engross them more than females- who are commonly known to enjoy the genres of romance and comedy. The film is aimed at a teenage audience and perhaps parents because the film can be used to make awareness of the dangers teenagers can be in if they do not act responsibly. In the past years the number of teenagers being taken and killed have dramatically increased, therefore this is a serious current issue. Therefore portraying this controversial issue in a film will attract attention from these audiences and be very engaging. Although a film is fiction and is intented to be enjoyed it will convey a message and help teenagers think about being more careful.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

We appealed to our target audience through casting ourselves in our film as our ages fit in our target age range. The use of characters of a similar age to the target audience attracts them because it creates a link between the characters and audience, enabling them to relate and empathise with characteristics of the characters, the decisions they make and situations they are in. It is commonly thought that an audience would prefer to watch a film with characters of their own age because of the relatability being present. The way we have included modern fashion, set and props creates verisimilitude and allows a teenage audience who will be interested in similiar things to relate further to the characters. The use of the scattered photographs creates mystery and intrigue over their signifiance, engaging the audience immediately. This appeals to a teenage audience as they are commonly associated with losing interest or attention and need to be gripped quickly. The opening of the Thriller ' The Number 23' also uses close ups of numbers, dates and names to create a similar kind of mystery and intrigue which can absorb an audience's interest quickly.

In addition we have appealed to boys (and presumably some girls) in our teenage target audience by including creating tension and action early on through the use of fast cuts between the point of view of the killer and a close up of the girl looking at something in the trees. This will engage and interest the audience, keeping them on the edge of their seat very early on in the film, this is reinforced by the use of eerie music full of mystery that matches the action well, building up and suggesting something isn't right and something bad is going to happen.

The opening sequence of Quantum of Solace features a car chase, which although is on a much larger scale and is even more action packed (and the action and tension are different kinds to ours) it also uses this strategy to engage the audience early on, create tension and appeal to a young teenage boy audience who like lots of action.