EVALUATION: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Audience Profile and Research

In order to help establish the correct target audience for our thriller, I conducted some research into how age and gender affect the movie preferences of a viewer. Below is a sample of the ages and genders I questioned:

Having conducted my research it became apparent that certain features are appealing for varying viewers. On the whole, young male viewers found comedies and stories with less of a gripping story-line more appealing; they enjoyed laugh out loud comedy or extreme scenarios that just ‘look cool’ more than complex human relations; of course, there are exceptions.

In young girls, and middle aged women romance was a common theme. The younger viewers tended to enjoy more chick flick style films, with the women liking more of an emotional attachment; however, as the video above shows, not all girls feel this way.

The older views I surveyed preferred classic style films; like Westerns and musicals. Films that aren't too challenging to watch and appeal to what makes you feel good.

When observing thrillers, it is the action that is more appealing to younger males, and this trend continues on into middle aged men. They enjoy predominantly action based films, particularly if conflict is a strong thread throughout. However, all people questioned said they like an element of mystery and suspense; they find enigmas or climatic events engaging and enjoyable. They expect a predominantly male cast, with the antagonist often being foreign (they also said they expect fairly dark and militaristic clothing and urban or foreign settings).

External research provided similar conclusions:

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/reports/nielsen_howteensusemedia_june09.pdf says that 80% of teenagers like action and adventure while only 51% like thriller style films. As the age goes up, the desirability of a thriller film increases and combined with crime/action peaks at around 24-25. 

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Our opening sequence is likely to attract a fairly wide audience; it’s adherence to common thriller conventions such as growing pace and action and the enigma and confusion throughout will generate viewers looking for a classic thriller; however, with our experimental concept we should also attract viewers who often perhaps overlook thrillers. Our leading woman ‘antagonist’ breaks from the convention of a male led production, and the fairly open and bright setting with no military connotations is also something not often portrayed. I feel it is important for these counter-types to be implemented as it creates a more exciting and intriguing viewing experience; however, as we still adhere to certain basic thriller practices it doesn't lose its thriller appeal.

Our film will be rated 15+. This is a suitable rating as some of the themes in our opening sequence could be troubling for people under this age. I feel people in their 20's upwards are more likely to enjoy the production as the concepts will be easier to understand, especially as it lacks violence (the action you see is fairly mild). A lot of the tension is created by the audience assuming what's happening and this mental enigma is the driving force of the sequence, therefore younger viewers are less likely to understand the concept (having said that, within our opening sequence we hope that even more mature viewers are confused as this is what we're trying to appeal to).

Audience Profile: Ryan, someone open to change.