Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience is:

• 16-18 year olds
• Female
• Student
• White British

Our group thought that 16 -18 year olds would be the perfect target audience for ‘Envy’, our thriller opening. This is because, the main characters are part of the same age range, which means that the audience will be able to relate and feel part of the characters story. Another reason our group thought that it would be good to have the age of the target audience as 16-18 years olds, was because the members of our group were part of that age range, so we knew what we expected in a thriller and what draws us in. The use of costumes again are used to target our audience, because they are clothes that our audeince would wear daily.

The idea that both main characters are female challenges traditional thriller films such as, ‘The Third Man’ and ‘Witness’ the main characters (evil/good) are male, the women in these films are femme fatales; pretty but lures danger and are insignificant. The fact that it is women mainly taking control of the screen time in Envy, it will probably result in a larger percentage of women watching the thriller opening, this is because it challenges traditional conventions of men having leading roles. The main character Kat, the suspect for Robbie’s death, was inspired by Lisbeth in ‘The Girl with the dragon tattoo’; just like Lisbeths’ pleasure in exposing and punishing men, Kat seems to have the same desire, so fans of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will enjoy Envy. Also Kat's costume is very simular to that of Lisbeths (dark and mysterious clothing), this again is effective, because it lets the audience know that Kat is not a sterotypical objectified female like in noir thrillers such as "Gilda" and Eve in " Once Upon a Time in America". Kill Bill is another good example of the idea of revenge, and also the fact that The Bride, is the main character hunting for revenge, which is what our main character is doing, is relevant and effective.

The location of a claustrophobic dingy flat could relate to the target audience, as they may be students and could be living in a similar place, this could result in Envy being even more realistic and thrilling to the audience, as this could get them thinking ‘could this happen to me?’.

An example of a student flat and where 'Envy' is
based

We looked at films that the target audience would most likely watch,which we then tried to incorporate some aspects of those films in our thriller opening. For example, when Jen is entering the flat, the worms eye, tracking shot of her feet, we thought resembled some scenes in Essex Boys; the wet and damp streets.

The dark, wet streets in Essex Boys 

The damp wet street in Envy 

The fact that all the characters in Envy are white British actors, suggests that the large quantity of viewers would be of this ethnicity, other ethnic groups may not be so keen on watching the film because there is not any other form of ethnic minority in Envy, which for one, will not result in the audience relating to the characters, and it may not appeal to them. However as the film progresses, other ethnicity groups may be introduced, which would result in the target audience widening.

 Envy would not be shown in common cinemas; our niche group would most likely see it in an independent or art house cinema, such as cinema city. This is because Envy would not appeal to mainstream audiences as it is not a blockbuster.

Acting on given feedback :

After posting my first draft of Question 4 I was given the feedback to identify the target audience demographic and make my reference to the girl with the dragon tattoo more detailed. I acted on this information and attempted to improve my post. After re-posting I was told to delete the uneducated phrase “girly girly” and replace it with “objected females”. I took these comments on bored and improved my question 4, hopefully completing it to higher standards.