Who are your target

audience and what have

you learned from
your audience feedback?

Our initial research consisted of a survey that we got a range of

people to fill in of different age groups and of each gender. Our
results proved that our intended audience would be mainly males,
aged between the 15-20 age bracket as they preferred horrors
over thrillers.

nre and Audience Appeal

Our genre was a horror. There are general conventions that we
needed to involve in our trailer that adhere to these conventions.
For example, showing the key actors involved the protagonist
and antagonist. Frightening music to quicken the pace and allow
the tension to build up and moreover the use of isolated locations
etc.
These conventions create an appeal for the audience to be
encouraged to go and watch the film alongside promoting the
fact that the film is a horror.
If the trailer is shown in the correct type of places for example
before screenings of other horror films or at night in the advert
breaks for other horror films being shown on television then the
correct target audience can be contacted and encouraged to
watch.
Not only this, but with the target audience being 15-21 years old
then the prominent use of social media can be manipulated and

udience Theory
This links in to the idea of whether the audience were
passive or active. These two categories are explained
as a passive audience would sit and watch the
production, and believe everything that they see.
Whereas an active audience will think about what they
have watched and the possible meanings and
implications it stimulates the person to question.

udience Theory
Uses and Gratifications
theory
An
example relevant to an active audience would be the Uses and
Gratifications theory coined by Bulmer and Kats in 1974.
This is that there is a belief that theres a series of reasons why
society uses the media.
1) Diversion as a source of escapism or release from everyday
pressures
2) Personal relationships finding companionship through
identification and the ability to talk about the film/production once
youve watched it a sociable aspect
3) Personal identity compare your own life with the characters in
Within
production, our audience would probably be active and
mediaour
production
more to
the
first three gathering
points. They
would
watchreports
our film
as
4)relate
Surveillance
information
like
weather
and
an
escape
realetc.
life and to seek thrill as it is a horror.
news
andfrom
adverts
Moreoever, they would want to identify with the characters
possibly (but maybe not because of the nature of the film) and
finally it would be a talking point for social situations.

udience Theory
Hypodermic Needle
Theory
Another theory is the Hypodermic Needle Theory. This is more
relevant to our type of audience as they are more likely to be
classed as a passive audience for the majority.
This is where the media injects different idea into the audience
and as they are passive they wont be stimulated by thought or
questioning what is happening, and instead simply believe
everything that is being told.
An example of this is when radio broadcasts in America
pretended to have been invaded by aliens a type of war of
the worlds idea and people started fleeing their homes.
However, this was an April fools prank yet the audience were
all passive so believed everything that they were being told.

resentation, audience & ge

Regarding representation within our trailer, we only use the typical
representation expected of women with our protagonist Rosie.
She is seen as a timid and vulnerable which are common traits of
the stereotypical woman especially someone in this situation.
For male representation we see that George Rosies boyfriend is
someone that she goes to for help and support when she is in a
bad situation. This shows male dominance and their strength and
support especially with the fact that she seeks this help and
guidance from him.
The genre for our production is a horror. This will attract an
audience that generally enjoys watching this type of film, probably
alongside other genres like thrillers.
From our research we found that typically this would be a male
person with similar interests that go alongside this type of genre.
This could be things like gaming etc if they are into a violent nature
for entertainment.

udience Feedback

udience Feedback
The picture is one of the spider diagrams from the focus group we
took after we had a large screening of our production.
We asked basic questions that would aid our production by giving
positive qualities and potential means of improvement we could
apply if we were to re-edit the production.
By asking what the most memorable part was meant that we
knew certain parts would stick in the audiences head and act as a
means of encouragement so they would go and watch it in the
cinema. Not only this, but finding out what the certain selling
points were meant that we could see which parts appealed to an
audience on mass which we could then relay into other, future
productions we could be creating.
The focus group wasnt solely the target audience of boys ages
15-20, yet we had both genders and a range of ages so that it
wasnt closed off and took into account everyones opinions.

ills Development

Looking back on our AS production it is clear to see that a year on, we focused
much more on our audience in the respect that we saw how vital it was to
target and address the specific audience.
Last year we guessed at the audience this meant we didnt complete surveys
to ensure that our audience was correct and we just took a stab in the dark and
made a presumption of what our target audience would be without any real
This was the extent of
data to support this.
our initial research last
year.
Because we didnt
complete surveys, we
came out with quite a
broad spectrum of what
the target audience
would be; 15-25, male
and interested in
typically male hobbies
football, gaming and
going out with friends
etc.
Looking back it is clear
to see that this isnt

ills Development

We also created vague demographic profiles of who our target audience

was likely to be.
These werent exactly accurate as they were each vague and again
made up as there was little evidence to support the ideas that we had
created and come up with.

ills Development
This year we did surveys which we
then transferred into graphs to give
us an indication of a fairly specific
target audience.

By creating a more developed idea of what our target

audience should be, ensured that we would know where to
advertise for example using social media and what type of
films at the cinema the trailer should be shown before.
This made the whole process so much easier.
It didnt, however, limit our focus group and audience video
response as we cant simply limit the whole production into
one social group of people. This meant we had a large group
of people that gave relevant, helpful and educated
responses and feedback our production.

uccessful or not?
The final response we needed was the discover whether the
production was successful or not and whether people are
encouraged to go and see the film.

The whole of our focus group agreed that they would go and see
the film because of the horror elements and the way it was made.
They agreed that it looked professional and scary which was
the primary aim of a horror film.
We think due to the success of the trailer, we would be able to
make a profit on the film if it was made fully and the money
spent on the whole production would be made back and
furthermore, make a profit.

uccessful or not?
Looking at these results and taking from general
discussion with audience members, we realised that
the trailer was successful. However, there were
definitely some improvements that were needed to
be made for example the sound in some areas
wasnt up to scratch. These little mistakes are
things that we would look out for in our next
production and be more aware of.
Overall, we have come to the agreement it was a
success as people can see the intended genre and
are consequently encouraged to go and see it IF it
was made into a full production which is essentially
the primary aim of any trailer.