Q4&5How did you attract your audience? Who is

your target audience?

Target Audience

■ From the research that we each undertook in the planning stages we were able to decide on a specific target audience. This was for males and females aged 15-30.

■ Our research suggested that this would be an appropriate age because we developed enigma (Barthes) through the use of over laying and ghosting effects in editing

■ We attempted to ‘play with people’s minds’ by making the narrative more psychological and referring back to specific iconography and props.

■ The build of enigma comes from the beginning when there is a focus pull into a first aid kit making the audience consider all the different possibilities as to why there maybe a first aid kit.

■ We also attempted to follow some of the predictors that were highlighted in planning such as:

■ Building up tension – this is seen through repetition of symbols, such as the teddy and the phot frame. The photo frame is always out of focus until the end, because again this allows the audience to ‘think’ about what is happening and become more engaged with the content.

■ Using a male character – both males and females suggested that males characters were generally preferred (this is also the norm). The male protagonist in this case is also of an ethnic background but one that can appeal to both genders.

■ Unexplained incidents happening, such as a book falling out off a book shelf with no help. This draws upon horror indicators and that make the audience “euphoric.”

■ The pace of editing is also slow. This again was a deliberate technique to build confidence in the audience that something, perhaps unnatural or uncanny (Todorov) is going to occur.

■ We have hybridised the thriller genre further through the use of psychological (using pills) and supernatural elements (ghosting) in a similar way to the Sixth Sense.

Summary

■ From our research and planning we were able to use codes and conventions to appeal to the audience including codes and conventions of narrative and genre.

■ We appealed to the audience because we met expectations and we tried to do it in a creative way such as using hybridized genres.

■ We also decided by having a 15+ age group would mean that the narrative would insinuate but not necessarily show graphic content. This marketing strategy would then appeal to wider audience.