Audience Profile

Age
Our thriller is likely to appeal to and audience around 17-35. This is due to the cast being in the age group of 16-18 but the structure of our storyline and background of our film may appeal to the higher age group. The film would be certificate 15 due to the drug references and large amounts of violence.

Gender
Our gender target audience is female due to the lead femme fatal seen in the opening shots of the film. Also when carrying out our survey it was found that males generally prefer a male lead role within a thriller however the violence and action which occurs in our opening sequence of our film would be likely to also appeal to a male audience.

Occupation
Our film is likely to appeal to students in either sixth form, college or university. However it also targets the more superior film viewer due to the suspense within the opening as well as reference to more classic thrillers such as Psycho. Targeting the more superior film viewer is also due to the fact that our film would likely be viewed in cinemas such as cinema city due to its art house production. Therefore viewers watching the film would be interested in the use of location and mise-en-scene.

Aspirations
Aspirations of the target audience of this film is likely to be high with the film mainly appealing to students attending sixth form, college etc therefore could gain insperation from this production and discuss the actions and messages portrayed within the film.

Simliar films to appeal to target audience
Our film is based around the more classic thriller such as Psycho as it doesn't use so many special effects and CGI. Our inspired director was Quentin Tarantino as he often uses the lead femme fatal who is strong and independent. Therefore our audience would likely to be interested in Jackie Brown and Kill Bill which isn't a thriller but follows the similar conventions.

Interests
Our film uses a soundtrack of classical music therefore our audience is likely to be interested in how it is used and contrasts with the violence which is seen. Our audience is likely to be interested in photography and film making and therefore would be interested in the use of cinematography and use of mise-en-scene. The use of costume is also very striking and stylish and therefore would appeal to a modern fashionable audience.

Dr Who is it an international experience or a range of associated spin offs?

Dr Who is built up from a variety of intermedial texts. It began with Dr Who airing on its own own but since being re-released with popular characters and storyline, now has a number of spin offs such as The Sarah Jane Chronicles and Torchwood all aired and built up through the BBC

This begins to build the Dr Who fandom as it gains a greater audience of all ages and giving a much greater variety to the program.

As well as these spin offs there is also a built up website allowing fans to check up on the latest news from Dr Who as well as downloading Podcasts and check out behind the scenes to the making of Dr Who. There is also a magazine available for true fans where they can collect certain Dr Who memorabilia and get a greater insite into the program.

I belive that all the Intermedial texts of Dr Who are necessary as these range of texts allow the program to gain a greater fan base and become more successful.

You could argue that most people would generally be interested in just the program itself and don't generally want all the excess that can come with it, but Dr Who has always been a classic for the BBC therefore will already have a large fan base, and to try and gain new fans companies like the BBC need to set up these intermedial links to gain a new fan base and make it appeal to a greater audience, therefore Dr Who being a family based program parents will watch it with their children, they then become interested and want to buy the magazine and play the games on the website etc.

Audience Analysis

To help with the opening of our thriller I obtained some information, with the three other people who are also working with me to produce this thriller, from the general public to help me find out what people generally look for in thrillers. We made sure the results where fair and asked 20 females with 10 being over 20 and the other 10 being under 20, we did the same for the males and these are the results.

1) What is your favourite thriller?

It was hard to get an answer for this one as most people didn't really know the full meaning of the term thriller. However films such as Reservoir dogs, Kill Bill and Snakes on a plane scored highly for the males showing they prefer the more gritty action thrillers however the females also went for Kill Bill, Bourne identity and Seven, this shows the variety of audience a thriller has and therefore when making our thriller we must find a target audience we want our thriller to appeal to. This will make research easier and hopefully make the film more sucessful as we will have been able to include all key aspects for that particular target audience,

2) What do you enjoy most about thriller films?

These results show that overall women prefer more violent thrillers with added suspense and males mainly prefer action therefore when making our thriller we would need to combine these to make it appeal to a wider audience. These results where interesting as its more stereotypical to find men prefering violence therefore must remember not to be so critical on what we think an audience would like and use this information to help develop our ideas.

3) Do you prefer a male lead role or Female?

These results show that overall females dont mind who plays a lead role but also showing they would much rather see a male lead same shown with the male results therefore giving different thoughts on our femme fatale lead character being used in our thriller film and whether or not this is likely to appeal to our target audience. However with quite a high ratio saying they don't mind it is likely we will take the risk which most producers have to do when making a film.

4) Do you look for Ambiguity in a thriller film or a more give-away plot line?


These show that both females and males overall prefer ambiguity in a thriller film which links into females preferring suspense for question 2. It doesn't seem un common for ambiguity to be popular in thriller films as that is what thriller films are about, the idea of not knowing what will happen. Therefore if we where to continue our thriller further we would make sure our storyline was easy to understand but also not so predictable.

5) Do you prefer Modern day thrillers or the more classic thrillers?

Overall there is a higher percentage wanting modern day thrillers but with most who dont mind. It was mainly males wanting the more modern day thrillers as they prefer action which was found out in question 2 and it is the special effects and action which is seen in modern day thrillers. We won't be able to have the resources to put in the special effects seen in blockbuster films but will be able to add violence and action but also making it appear classic to try and appeal to our targer audience.

6) Do you like thrillers to be in colour or black and white?

There was a much higher result of people wanting thrillers in colour showing there is a much higher demand for the more modern thriller preferably with the more younger male. This is due to the better quality of film. People like to see colour in a film as it makes the film more appealing and easier to take in therefore we will film our thriller in colour.

7) Where do you prefer to watch thriller films?

There's a much higher demand for watching thrillers at the cinema than at home mainly due to the special effects and surround sound which generally makes it better experience, but there where a few people we asked saying they only liked going to cinema city as they don't like how commercial and expensive modern cinemas today are. It is likely our film would go to the independent cinemas such as cinema city due to its low budget however it would do better for the film and target audience we are appealing to with this film to try and make it in the blockbuster cinemas as the higher budget films are more successful.

8) What is your preferred length of a thriller film?

These results help give a standard idea of a preffered length showing the most popular is between 90-120 which would be useful if we where to make a full length thriller to give an idea of how long the general public prefer a film to be.

Audience theory

I asked a few of my friends to find out what people generally like in films...

Rachael
What films do you watch?
I love any chick flick which is easily watched. I also like comedy, anything by Quentin Tarantino and thrillers.

How often do you watch films?
I rarely have time to watch films as I usually have too much homework or am out but I try to watch a film a week.

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I usually go to the cinema once a week as I can go cheaply on Tuesdays or Wednesdays as I am on Orange. I also enjoy buying films as they are also so cheaply available. I rarely rent films as a lot of the time its very expensive and cheaper to just buy the film.

What are the social factors?
I find films handy when I don’t know someone very well and I can just watch or film or if when I have a friend round it’s something to do.

Danielle
What films do you watch?
I love watching comedies as they make me laugh and are also fun to watch.

How often do you watch films?
I like to watch a film a week

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I mainly watch DVD’s at home either on my own or friends but I try to go out to the cinema as often as I can as it’s a better experience.

What are the social factors?
They provide a good topic of conversation and are great to watch with friends.

Molly
What films do you watch?
I like to watch thrillers, any film with Jake Gyllenhaal, comedies and chick flicks

How often do you watch films?
I watch films twice a week

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I like to go to the cinema but my families subscribed to Love film so i watch most of my films through that.

What are the social factors?
Whenever I have sleepovers with my friends we usually watch films as they are really fun especially a really scary horror film or thriller.

Jane
What films do you watch?
I love any film but mainly Sci-fi or thriller. I also enjoy independent films

How often do you watch films?
I watch a film everyday.

Do you go to the cinema/ watch DVD’s/ rent etc.
I like to go to the cinema as often as I can as well as watch and buy DVD’s. I’m also subscribed to Love film so have a lot of access to films.

What are the social factors?
I like to see films with friends at the cinema as it’s more enjoyable .

Thriller questionnaire!!

I've written a questionnaire to fin out what people look for in thrillers to help give me an idea about what sort of things I should be using so copy and paste it as a comment and let me know!!

Media studies thriller Questionnaire!

1) What is your age?
15-19
20-25
26-30
30+
2) Are you male or female?
Female Male

3) Which thriller film do you enjoy the most?
…………………………………………………………….
4) What do you enjoy most about thriller films?
- Gangsta
- Violence
- Storyline
- Action
- Suspense
5) Do you prefer to watch a male lead role or female lead role in a film?
Male lead Female lead Dont Mind

6) Do you enjoy ambiguity or a give away plot line? E.g psycho where you don’t find out until the end who the killer is or Kill Bill bit more giveaway.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….


7) Do you prefer classic or modern day thrillers if so why?
Modern day Classic Dont Mind

Why? ………………………………………………………………

8) Do you like films in colour or films in black and white?
Colour Black and White Dont Mind

9) Where do You most like to watch thriller films?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10) What’s your preferred length of a film?
60-90min 90-120min 120+