Question 7: Who is the target audience and how does this trailer appeal to them?

Ellie New

Target Audience :

Jessabelle & Mama

In my opinion, the target audience for the films are teenagers both male and female aged 15 – 18. Who are interested in horror films and are ‘thrill seekers’. They may be interested in other types of horror films, and also consume products like, ‘Twilight’ and ‘The Hunger Games’; which play on fictional, fantasy worlds but also have an element of surprise, which they may find scary.

The social class of the viewers would be primarily class E. I felt class E was appropriate for this film, as the teenage target audience are usually students, in full time education. Making them unskilled and untrained, they are likely to be relying on parents or a carer to provide them with money. I also felt it was class E as they aren’t high brow films, making them more accessible and therefore lower class.

The trailers are appealing to the target audience as they include lots of cuts, making it appear dramatic and fast paced, which contributes to the ‘thrill’ factor.

When creating my trailer, to capture a younger target audience I will have to include lots of cuts to make the trailer fast paced, to keep the audience interested. And include characters which they can relate too.

I decided to group the two trailers as I found them very similar in terms of target audience and felt that they linked together well.

Age rating helps to determine the target audience of a film.

Target Audience : The Woman In Black

The target audience for this film males and females aged 12 – 17, I felt that it wasn’t particularly scary enough to attract a higher age rating. Giving the film a ‘12’ age rating creates a younger target audience, meaning the film must show things which are acceptable for a child age 12 to view. I felt that the film maybe more female orientated due to the lead character, Daniel Radcliffe. Young female girls may have seen him star in the fantasy saga, Harry Potter and have then followed him to ‘The Woman In Black’. The target audience may consume products such as, Harry Potter, Pretty Little Liars and Twilight.

The social class of the viewers I felt would be a Class E, which is the class I also categorized the last two film audiences; as they will still be full time education, and do not specialise in anything specific.The trailer is appealing to the target audience

because, it presents a number of different shot types at the beginning to engage the audience on what’s going on, also showing toys which the audience may be able to relate to from their own infancy. It includes children's music in a nursery rhyme style, a a child's voice. It features a lot of cuts to keep to this ‘fast paced’ theme, as a younger audience are used to watching things in a faster pace, opposed to an older audience which may miss key details.

In terms of target audience, when creating my trailer to attract my target audience, the main character and narrative will be the first consideration to make sure I capture my target audience.