Who would be the Target Audience for

your Media Product? Q4

Our media product would be established in the Physiological-Thriller sub-genre, which will interest a particular target audience. In the opening of our thriller it contains many enigma codes, these enigma codes will keep the target audience asking questions, such as; why has this girl been kidnapped? Who is the antagonist? The opening also contains false peaks of suspense which will keep our audience on the edge of their seats. As the audience will be asking themselves these questions they will want the answers to them, therefore they’ll continue watching. Our media product will be aimed at a target audience age range of 18-40. As our product contains violence and adult situations the lower side of the age range must be appropriate. Although our product will be for both genders there are other factors that may affect what gender prefers our media product.

Target Audience Mood board and Individual

Profiles

Both of our mood boards are based on a wide range of ages between 18-40, this is the range that our sub-genre thriller is aimed at. On the mood boards you can see the typical things that will relate to members of our target audience. For example: in the mood boards there are a variety of different thrillers, as our target audience would have an interest in other thrillers. As a group we decided that we were not just going to aim our opening to those who are a fan of thriller, we wanted to interest a wider audience. We wanted to expand our audience by interesting those who do not usually watch thriller films, we tried to do this by incorporating parts of different sub-genres, such as: horror-thriller, physiological-thriller and crime-thriller. For example; in our opening scene it has convention of a crime thriller, as the vulnerable protagonist is being kidnapped.

Feedback from the Target Audience

Audience Members

“The narrative of the opening was very unique, however it took me sometime to understand it fully.”

“Great camerawork and mise en scene along with a clear narrative. Could have had some creepy dialogue between the protagonist and antagonist.”

For feedback from the target audience we decided to use a range of different ages, this allowed us to know what we had achieved. The majority of the feedback from the audience was positive, although we had some comments on the complicated narrative.

We choose three main people, each of the members are a different age, we choose these three as they show what they though between the target audiences age range. Even though some of our audiences member favourite genre was not part of thriller sub-genre, they enjoyed our opening. As a group we enjoyed hearing the feedback from our target audience as we worked hard to create our media product.

“I thought it was well presented and executed. I thought it was a good opening as it had may enigma codes.”

Kasia CencoraAge: 17Favourite Genre: Thriller

Terri TownsendAge: 36Favourite Genre: Comedy

Peter TownsendAge: 46Favourite Genre: Horror -Thriller

Discuss issues raised and Target Audience

FeedbackOnce we had a clear narrative for our thriller opening we moved onto making a clear plan of what we needed to consider. Before shooting our Thriller opening we made a plan of everything we will need to consider at the time, for example; Camerawork, Mise-en-scene, and Sound. After we made a shot list for our opening we moved onto making an animatic. During the time that we filmed we could refer back to our animatic. The plan insured that we knew what we were doing on the days we filmed.

Target Audience FeedbackOur feedback from the target audience is an important part of creating our media product as it tells us if we have met our target audience’s approval. The majority of our audience gave us positive feedback as they enjoyed the false peaks of suspense and enigma codes. However, some commented on the narrative, as the narrative was complicated to follow. The majority of the audience gave us positive feedback on the use of camerawork and non-diegetic sound. For example: one member of the audience Terri aged 36 said “I love close-up shot of the leaf in the kidnapping scene.” The shot we used was a shallow focus shot, which almost appeared to be a voyeur shot. As a group we enjoyed hearing the feedback that our target audience gave as we had worked hard to create a media product to appeal to them. In our opening we used a variety of shots and non-diegetic sound to create a tense atmosphere. Many of our audience members enjoyed the non-diegetic as the soundtrack alone could make them feel uncomfortable.  Although the majority of our feedback was positive some audience members had criticisms. Some members of our audience preferred the action-thriller sub-genre, rather than our horror-thriller sub-genre. As our thriller is more about the meticulous and minimalistic antagonist our thriller is more psychological than action packed. However to provide for different members of the audience our thriller opening contained some action, for example: when our protagonist was kidnapped. The action itself attracts a wider audience as well as breaking down the suspense. Some audience members did not understand the narrative of our thriller; however we can use this to our advantage. If we were to begin our thriller with a straight forward narrative we would not be able to create enigma codes, which are an important part of a thriller.

How did you Attract/Address your

Audience?The Thriller genre is popular within different age groups as there are many sub-genres associated with ‘Thriller.’ Some of these sub-genres are; Action-thriller, Romance-thriller, Crime-thriller, Supernatural-thriller, Physiological-thriller, etc…Therefore we decided on one particular sub-genre for our target audience. The four sections that we considered were; Thriller conventions Non-diegetic music Similarities with other films Media language

To begin we created a plan which included each of these points, when it came to filming the planning we had done acted as a guide. As we followed the sub-genre (Physiological-thriller) we made sure that we followed the correct conventions. We wanted to include everything that will attract our target audience as well as keeping to our sub-genre. For music we kept to the typical thriller music, which is music that creates suspense and sets up false peaks of suspense. For example; when our protagonist began to walk faster we layered over music to create a false peak of suspense. To inspire us we used some of the thriller films we had watched in class, for example; Copycat, Hand that rocks the Cradle, Leon the professional, and Enemy of the State.

Genre Conventions The genre conventions have four main areas that we had to cover, these were; Narrative, Characters, Themes, and Iconography. To attract our target audience or any audience for that matter we made sure that our film contained these four areas. Depending on the genre of the film, depends on how these four areas of the conventions are adjusted to the genre. Firstly I will be discussing the traits of our characters (protagonist and antagonist) and how they are typical to the thriller genre.

In a typical thriller the narrative revolves around a enigma which can usually only be solved by the protagonist. Once the equilibrium is disturbed within a thriller the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist begins. Thrillers are usually set in urban locations, for example: our kidnapping scene is filmed on an off-side road. As a group we kept within the conventions of a thriller as the narrative is told through the protagonist.

The props in a typical thriller are usually weapons that are large or easily identifiable, for example; knives. Knives in a thriller are commonly used to indicate danger as they are often linked to; blood, violence and brutality. An example of the use of a knife in a Psychological-Thriller would be in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Shadows/silhouettes are used in thrillers to connote a sense of mystery. They often entice and build the fear within a member of the target audience

Iconography In our thriller opening the role of the iconography plays a big part in the way we represent our characters. For example; if we had a girl in a bright red room we would know that she is powerful and dangers, as red connotes this. The target audience would not be surprised that our vulnerable character is female as there are not many thrillers with a Femme Fatal.

Shallow focus shot

First scene

Antagonist's home

Iconography is what the audience sees in each frame, such as: costumes, props, landscape (buildings, field, etc…) and mise-en-scene. In our opening we planned our iconography as we were filming outside we had to make sure that our planned frames were not interrupted. In our kidnapping scene we choose an off-side road where we were unlikely to be interrupted, the mise-en-scene of the road also went with our typical thriller. To enhance the mise-en-scene we used shots that would use our location as an advantage, for example; the shallow focus shot of the leaf, when used in the opening appears like a voyeur shot. (Cut to black screen) we have our first in counter with our antagonist. The credit sequence scene presents the personality of the antagonist to the target audience; the iconography contributes to the building of a characters persona. (Non-diegetic music to diegetic music) The dinning is one of the main scenes where the iconography contributes to the representation of the characters as well as the overall atmosphere of the opening. In our dining scene we used low-key lighting to provoke the emotion of fear of not knowing what will happen next. The minimalistic appearance of the room allowed the audience to focus on both the protagonist and antagonist.

NarrativeNarrative is a series of events that occur over time, the events are linked by cause and effect. Although events need a cause and affect our audience do not know the cause/reason to why the antagonist is kidnapping the protagonist. The opening of our thriller begins with our vulnerable protagonist who then gets a threating text message. The fact that she has her phone on her and many young adults rely on their phone demonstrates peoples over reliance on technology. As the protagonist begins to pick up pace as she walks many enigma codes are created, such as; will she get home safe? Who is the person texting her? Why is she being targeted? These enigma codes all contribute to the construction of the thriller genre. Our thriller is a sub-genre (Physiological-thriller) as our opening plays with the minds of our target audience. The scene after the kidnapping scene contributes to the rest of our narrative, if we were to make the rest of the film we would have the set up to continue.

Themes

The main identifying theme of a thriller is often based on something that society is concerned about at the time, these can range from isolation and kidnapping to the act or terrorism and is affects. The main concept of the narrative is shown through the protagonist perspective, for example; the P.O.V shots puts the target audience in the protagonist position. The dark colour schemes and low-key lighting in thrillers connote mystery and suspense. The low-key lighting used in thrillers enhance the isolation and vulnerability of the protagonist. In our kidnapping scene our protagonist is isolated, even though the protagonist has her phone, the technology that she once relied on has turned against her. The typical protagonist in a thriller will face death and save another, while the typical antagonist has a stronger force than the protagonist. Overall the typical narrative of a thriller is in the possession of the protagonist. In a thriller the non-diegetic music is typically eerie, mysterious and suspenseful, this allows us to provoke different emotions from the target audience.

Media Language –Types of Shots

The media language we have learnt has been incorporated into the opening of our thriller using key concepts, such as; representations, audiences, framing, narrative, genre, etc…Commonly the audience will distinguish a shot between the framework and mise-en-scene. In our opening we used a wide range of shot types, for example; Shallow focus, P.O.V, Close-up, Pan, Match on Action etc… The variety of shots we have used provoke the different emotions we want from our target audience. For example: the P.O.V shots put the target audience in the protagonists position, making them feel vulnerable. Throughout our opening our antagonist is not revealed, however we have used P.O.V shots in our credit sequence scene. Once our target audience realise what the antagonist is doing to the protagonist it a makes the audience question their own morals. Other shot types we have used build tension and make the audience feel as if they are the one stalking the protagonist, such as; voyeur shot.

Editing/Music

Using the ‘Adobe Premiere Pro,’ as a group we tested the effects that we wanted to use on our shots. This allowed us to get an idea of what our finale shots would look like as a part of the opening. For example; we used the blur effect on the P.O.V shots, this allowed us to communicate the confusion that the protagonist was feeling to the audience. However, we also used the software to create our match on action shots, foe example; we used one when the antagonist placed the food down onto the dining table.

Using the ‘Adobe Premiere Pro,’ we layered music over the scenes we wanted to provoke emotions from the audience. Depending on what music we used was the emotions that we would provoke from our target audience. For the music we kept to the typical thriller; eerie, mysterious, suspenseful, etc.. In the kidnapping scene we used music to build suspense as the audience waited in anticipation for what will happen to the protagonist.

Similarities to Other Films

Our initial idea for our thriller opening came from the show ‘Hannibal Lector,’ therefore some aspects of our film relates to this show, as well as some other films. Instead of us copying the main narrative of ‘Hannibal Lector’ we changed the narrative so the thriller opening became ours. For example: in ‘Hannibal Lector’ the narrative does not show how the protagonist got into the antagonist house, to define our narrative we incorporated the kidnapping scene at the beginning. Although the idea behind the narrative was similar we used a different range of shots, which we believe as a group makes the narrative more chilling. Unlike the show ‘Hannibal Lector’ we do not use dialogue to create tension and friction between the characters. Instead we use music to provoke the emotions we want from our target audience.

Unique Selling Point Our thriller is in the sub-genre, psychological-thriller meaning our main aim for the target audience is keep having enigma codes. These enigma codes keeps the audience guessing, for example: ‘Who is after the protagonist?’ ‘What will happen to her?’ this will appeal to the audience as the narrative will keep the anticipation of the thriller going. In our thriller opening we do not have any dialogue which allows the audience to focus on the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist. The audience are also able to focus on the characters personality while slowly discovering more about their exposition. As our thriller is not action packed or jumping from character the protagonist and antagonist becomes the target audiences focal point. This makes our thriller unique as it is more about the relationship between the characters rather than the crimes committed.