PLANNING: MY TARGET AUDIENCE

I needed to acknowledge who my target audience was going to be for my film and how to appeal to this group of people. I had to research age, gender, ethnicity and social class as well as popular genres and themes that featured in films that my target audience would watch.  

1. Who is my primary target audience?

Young British males and females aged 15-25 who enjoy watching movies with thrill and suspense. We set this age range as teenagers and young adults are most likely to watch horror films and enjoy them rather than older generations. We may attract a wider female audience due to our female dominated cast. 

2. What kind of films and television are they likely to prefer?

They are likely to enjoy thrilling television series and horror films that have gripping and realistic narratives as our film opening focuses more on real-life events with psychopaths and stalkers rather than a supernatural element. After doing some research, I discovered that the series 'You' is the kind of show that suits my target audience. It follows the narrative of Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager in New York, who upon meeting Guinevere Beck, an aspiring writer, becomes infatuated with her. He feeds his toxic obsession using social media and other technology to track her presence and remove obstacles to their romance. As well as this, films such as 'Greta' and 'Secret Obsession' would have similar  I think the audience of this series will enjoy our film too because we also aim to include the themes of obsession and realism in our film opening. 

3. What platforms do they choose to watch films and where are they likely to see information about films?

Due to our younger target audience, they are likely to watch films on streaming platforms they can access from their phones such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. They would most likely find information about film through various social media sites, for example, Instagram and YouTube. Therefore, we will put lots of emphasis on social media when we are marketing our film as this will be the most effective way of engaging our audience.

4. What brands do they prefer?

Brands that target a younger age demographic such as social media brands like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok as well as fast food brands like Nandos, McDonalds and KFC. They are likely to prefer clothing brands such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and (due to the sport element featured in our film) Nike, Adidas and Puma. 

 

Audience Profile

5. What makes my film stand out from the competition?

Out film includes very realistic concepts that are effective in heightening the emotion for the audience as they can immerse themselves into the storyline and picture themselves in the same situation as the protagonist. We have also decided to challenge the stereotype of having a male predator to make our film stand out from the competition and not seem so cliché. Instead, we have chosen a female stalker which means our camera will not have the 'male gaze' that many films in Hollywood have, according to Laura Mulvey in 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'. 

6. Why should my audience watch my film? 

It includes many popular features of a horror/thriller film as well as elements of psychological thrillers and contains a strong sense of realism which helps to intensify the action happening on screen and make the audience emulate the feelings of the actresses.  It also includes a female lead and female dominated cast which promotes female power and feminism in the film industry.