Who would be the audience for your media product?
It is important to know the who the audience for our film would be because that way we know what type of thing would attract them and follow the typical conventions of the horror films of this typical audience group.
After researching similar horror films from the same genre, the main audience of our finished product would be males aged 18-29. The horror films I looked at were 'The Others', 'Sixth Sense', 'The Ring 2', 'Dark Water' and 'The Orphanage'. Males aged 18-29 all rated these films on IMDB (internet movie database) more than any other group.
Our film would appeal to this group because woman are thought to be more affected by horror films and so do not enjoy them as much as men. The age group is also quite young and they are thought to have sensation-seeking personalities.
The Others was released in 2001 and is certified a 12.
Plot: a woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted.
IMDB user ratings:
Votes
Average
83,691
7.7
24,798
7.9
1,185
7.9
715
7.9
460
8.0
57,971
7.7
42,433
7.7
15,150
7.9
41,754
7.7
33,887
7.7
7,421
7.9
7,695
7.5
6,028
7.5
1,544
7.6
22
7.8
774
7.5
25,982
7.5
77,216
7.8
IMDb users
133,232
7.7
Males aged between 18-29 rated this film more than any other age group.
Sixth Sense was released in 1999 and is certified as a 15.
Plot: A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.
IMDB user ratings:
Males aged between 18-29 rated this film more than any other group, suggesting they are they highest viewers of the film.
The Ring 2 was released in 2005 and is a certified 15.
Plot: Six months after the incidents involving the lethal videotape, new clues prove that there is a new evil lurking in the darkness.
IMDB user ratings:
Again the most ratings come from males aged 18-29.
Dark Water was released in 2005 and is a certified 15.
Plot: A mother and daughter, still wounded from a bitter custody dispute, hole up in a run-down
apartment building. Adding further drama to their plight, they are targeted by the ghost of former resident.
IMDB user ratings:
| Votes | Average | |
| Males | 18,141 | 5.5 |
| Females | 4,376 | 5.6 |
| Aged under 18 | 199 | 6.1 |
| Males under 18 | 114 | 6.0 |
| Females under 18 | 85 | 6.3 |
| Aged 18-29 | 11,619 | 5.5 |
| Males Aged 18-29 | 8,930 | 5.5 |
| Females Aged 18-29 | 2,623 | 5.5 |
| Aged 30-44 | 8,823 | 5.5 |
| Males Aged 30-44 | 7,423 | 5.5 |
| Females Aged 30-44 | 1,335 | 5.6 |
| Aged 45+ | 1,878 | 5.7 |
| Males Aged 45+ | 1,560 | 5.7 |
| Females Aged 45+ | 300 | 5.8 |
| Top 1000 voters | 464 | 5.5 |
| US users | 6,542 | 5.4 |
| Non-US users | 15,226 | 5.6 |
| IMDb users | 27,035 | 5.6 |
Males aged 18-19 significantly rated this film more than any other group.
The Orphanage was released in 2007 and is a certified 15.
Plot: A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, where she opens an orphanage for
handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
IMDB user ratings:
Males aged 18-29 again significantly rated this film more than any other group. As with all the films I
have researched, males were more likely to watch horror films and rate them.
BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification. They have rated every film ever made, includingthose I have researched above. The Others is a 12 meaning that in terms of horror moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained. Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context.
Many horror films are classified as 18's as they may contain any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals.
This image taken from our film shows why it is a 15. You can see the threat outside the window, and as the BBFC website says that it should be classified as a 15 if a strong threat is consistently shown. There isn't anything gory or violent shown in our film, and it would not cause any harm so it doesn't need to be a 18.
Our film represents issues such as age in the way that the young girl is seen as vulnerable and rebellious. Class or race aren't addressed as it is only the beginning of the film. This representation suggests that our target audience would be similar to the girl in the film. We want people to be able to relate to the situation and so find it frightening. They would identify with the fact that the girl is young and alone and so is vulnerable. She is a teenager and has a free house and so invites her friends round which is typical of teenagers. The audience would relate to the situation and so it would appeal to them.
For our film i think the audience will typically be young aged males. This is because, from the research I have done, males ages between 18-29 rated the films the most on IMDB. However saying this, I think our particular genre (ghosts) is more popular with females than other genres, as this genre isn't that frightening compared to other genres such as psychological films.
We planned our film to engage our target audience as mentioned above, we want the audience to be able to relate to our film. I think they would enjoy our film as they can identify with the story. They will be looking to see a house party and the typical things teenagers get up to however that of course doesn't happen due to the threat appearing.
We didn't target a particular age or gender as we want to appeal to a wider audience however we feel that after research males ages 18-29 would typically enjoy this film. It is aimed at quite a young audience and both genders.
We chose a house as our location - a person in our groups house so that we would be able to use it when we liked and this is more reliable. When we planned our film, we planned it around the location, and how we would be able to film it in this house. The props we used include a mobile phone, beer, a laptop, a lamp etc. This will engage the target audience because they will see that these are typical things which are found in the household. It helps to conform to conventions because the props are things you would expect to be in a household and the location is in an enclosed place meaning it would be hard for the victim to escape.
The casting of our threat and victim helps to engage the audience because they are both teenage girls, the victim fitting with teenage girl stereotypes, the threat challenging them. We chose these as our actors as they would be reliable and fit the story-line well.
Our title sequence will engage the audience by making them wonder who the threat is and why she is killing the victim - what is the threats motive? Baby pictures of the threat are also shown suggesting maybe the threat had a bad childhood and that is why she wants to kill.
Here are some images from our title sequence:
We planned our film to engage our target audience as mentioned above, we want the audience to be able to relate to our film. I think they would enjoy our film as they can identify with the story. They will be looking to see a house party and the typical things teenagers get up to however that of course doesn't happen due to the threat appearing.
We didn't target a particular age or gender as we want to appeal to a wider audience however we feel that after research males ages 18-29 would typically enjoy this film. It is aimed at quite a young audience and both genders.
We chose a house as our location - a person in our groups house so that we would be able to use it when we liked and this is more reliable. When we planned our film, we planned it around the location, and how we would be able to film it in this house. The props we used include a mobile phone, beer, a laptop, a lamp etc. This will engage the target audience because they will see that these are typical things which are found in the household. It helps to conform to conventions because the props are things you would expect to be in a household and the location is in an enclosed place meaning it would be hard for the victim to escape.
The casting of our threat and victim helps to engage the audience because they are both teenage girls, the victim fitting with teenage girl stereotypes, the threat challenging them. We chose these as our actors as they would be reliable and fit the story-line well.
Our title sequence will engage the audience by making them wonder who the threat is and why she is killing the victim - what is the threats motive? Baby pictures of the threat are also shown suggesting maybe the threat had a bad childhood and that is why she wants to kill.
Here are some images from our title sequence:
These show images which will make the audience curious and want to keep watching.
Our music in the title sequence involves tense music and a heartbeat. This music makes the audience feel tense as they watch it and as it has been put with the images it makes it creepy and again the audience would curious.
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