Evaluation 4 & 5 - Who would the audience for your media product be? and How did you attract/address your intended audience?

The target age for our final film complies with what the normal viewing age of a thriller would be, 15. If our film was made into a full film, it would include strong violence, strong language, discriminatory language and behaviour and other controversial themes so  therefore would not be appropriate for an audience under 15. Even our opening scene has threat and disturbing images which build tension and make the audience uncomfortable so wouldn't be appropriate for under 15's. The reason we haven't labelled our film an 18 is because there is no strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror or blood and gore. No theme is prohibited at 18 providing that the material within the film is not illegal or potentially harmful, so it is possible that some themes tackled at 18 may offend some adult viewers, so we have decided not to make it an 18. 

As for the kind of people we have aimed our film at, hopefully the ranges for audiences would be open. People who would normally watch a thriller film would be any social class and both male and female in order to make our film as relatable as possible. 

We have made the film appropriate for ages 15 and over so that a younger audience can watch as well as an older audience as it would broaden the films popularity and make it more accessible. If a film is made into an 18, people of 15 will try and watch it illegally anyway, by making it available to the age of 15 we are ensuring that more people will purchase the film. If we were a large conglomerate or an independent film maker we would want the film to be available to a range of audiences, and people who range from the age of 15 to 25 are the people who are most likely to watch films as arguably they have more time to do so. 

We attracted our audience by making the age of the protagonist 17/18 years old  so as it is about a teenager, teenagers are more likely to feel they could relate to the situation more so that there is more of an impact on them and make them be able to imagine how the character is feeling etc. Providing that an audience can relate to a film  makes it more successful and enjoyable, so positive word of mouth will ensure it sustains popularity which would benefit us if we were to start selling our film and also would benefit the audience because they've got a satisfying product out of it.

Another way we addressed our audience is by conforming to most of the conventions of a thriller film. These have proved to be successful so are features that will make a good thriller film. For example, our protagonist fits the typical stereotype of a female protagonist in a thriller film. She is vulnerable, young and quite immature. The audience can tell she is vulnerable right from the beginning because she is on her own in a woods, which is another convention of a thriller we have adhered to. Adhering to these conventions ensure that the film builds tension whilst also entertaining and gripping the audiences attention and have proved to be successful.