Questions 4 & 5

Who would be the audience for your media

product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

Aaron Cogdell

• Horror films attract and captivate a variety of ages due to

the adrenaline rush an thrill seeking events that occur in

almost all modern horror films.

• The audience for my media product would be within the

age range of 15-60. This is due to the simple, but

captivating plots that are easy for people of any age to

enjoy and thrill seek to escape from every day life.

• Firstly, the younger end of my target audience (15-25). My age range starts at 15 due to the age rating on horror films as 15 is the youngest age to legally watch a horror and they will often watch horror films with a group of friends to unlock a sense of thrill and perhaps even act older than they are. The 18-25 year old section are at that ‘young adult’, thrill seeking age to experiment with things and gain experience in life. This age range (15-25) is the easiest to accommodate for, this is because they are easily entertained by film, and have minimal experience in the film industry so will tend to watch any film that ‘looks good’ or is popular at the time. They are also not ‘put off’ by graphic scenes such as murder, torture, kidnapping as they do not have this experience in life yet and try to act with a sense of maturity.

• In addition to the age, the gender for this age range is also equally targeted at as horrors target males and/or females. This is because young males and females will be thrill seekers and are both a key stage in life where by they developing themselves as characters, experimenting with emotions and will tend to ‘rush into things’ especially due to peer pressure.- This picture is what I believe the ‘typical’ audience member

of this age range to look like. I would expect the average

audience member of this age to have a ‘modern’ hairstyle,

wear the latest fashion clothing and looking like a full or part-

time student.

• These two pictures are what I believe the ‘typical’

audience member of this age range (male and female) to

look like. I would expect the average audience member

of this age to have a ‘modern’ hairstyle, wear the latest

fashion clothing and looking like a full or part-time

student.

• I believe the older and of the target audience (26-60) to be a ‘hit or miss’ section. This is because as people get older, they have experienced more throughout their lives and begin to form opinions and feelings about certain situations, some that may even be personal to a viewer that are re-created in a film. They are an equally suited audience as there is nothing to say that as you get older, you wont enjoy a graphic/thrill seeking film as many ‘older’ people will still want to get away from the every day life and reality and even make themselves feel young again. They may also remember some of the first, and true classic horror films (depending on how old they are) and will want to watch any remakes or similar films to see how the media has developed. I believe that there is no limit for the age of somebody targeted to watch as really, it is open for anybody at any age to watch a horror film.

• However, I believe that horror films are mainly targeted at males for this age range. This is because, stereotypically, males tend to be the stronger characters and can cope with the modern ‘graphic/uncomfortable scenes’. This is not standardised across the whole target market but is more of an ‘assumption’.

• Again, these two pictures are my

personal creations of a ‘typical’,

male and female audience

member for the age range 26-

60+. I would expect both

characters to wear a more

sophisticated style of clothing

and look more mature and adult-

like and increasingly so as they

age. They will look to be in full

time employment, with the

possibility of children, and of

course as they age, entering the

retirement age, where minimal

changes such as clothing and

accessories change.

• Horror films are aimed at a ‘working class community’ due to ‘low cost’ of watching a horror film. This means that horrors are easily accessible to people of any class and more specifically catered for the people in the ‘lower classes’. They are also aimed a ‘lower class’ due to the stereotypical ‘lower intelligence’ that people of that class are grouped to have. Therefore, the cheap, simple and ‘random’ horror films are aimed at this group of people.

• That doesn’t mean to say that people in a higher class will not watch horrors, but they would most likely be watching a sub-genre film such as horror with romance or action for example. This is largely due to the extra satisfaction that people in the ‘higher class’ seek from a film.

• Horror films tend to be targeted at a grouped audience,

like a group of friends or a couple. I believe this to be

because of their ‘scary/uncomfortable’ nature that people

need a sense of comfort and ‘protection’ when watching a

horror film and this demonstrates how influential and

powerful some horror films can really be. Romantic

couples are also a common audience group to watch a

horror film again for the sense of comfort and even

dominance (usually from the male).

• Younger audience: (15-25)

I believe that the younger target audience for horror films consume other forms of media such as film genres including action, adventure, sci-fi, thriller, rom-com’s etc. and will also be heavily involved in social media. Although, nowadays they are ‘sucked in’ to social media I would expect them to have hobbies and interests in sports, gaming and music and would spend their time either in education or employment and socialising when free time is available.

• Older Audience: (26-60+)

For the older audience of the target market, I would estimate that they would also be as interested in a range of film genres as above, but their interests and time-spending will be different. I would predict that they would not be as ‘involved’ with social media and would have different interests. These would include activities such as photography, construction, painting, reading, design and leisurely sports & exercise and would be at the stage in their lives where their time would be devoted to work and then retirement and the free will of spending time.

• I attracted my audience, purely through the accurate and effective use of the key conventions, often seen in top, successful modern horror films. Using ‘dark, isolated scenes’, ‘disturbing sound effects’, and ‘climax’s of suspense’ I was able to attract the desired viewers.

• My ‘mode of address’ was to include as many conventions as seen in successful horror films and make it look as professional as possible.

• Following, is a questionnaire that I created for audience members, of various ages and genders that viewed my opening scene. The questionnaire was designed to ask the audience members what attracted them to watch my media product and whether it met their expectations and satisfy their needs.

* The questionnaire was completed via computer for each member.

• My audience members expected and wanted to see

similar elements in horror films. They expected to see:

Male – 50 yrs

Female– 43

yrs

Male – 15 yrs

Female – 17 yrs

• They also believed that their expectations were met by

my opening scene

• And felt as if they were part of the target audience and estimated that people of a variety of ages would also be attracted to a similar media product.

• In conclusion I believe that I have accurately and successfully

attracted and appealed to my target audience with my media

product. As I stated at the beginning, my mode of address was

to pack my opening scene full of iconic horror film

expectations and use professional recreations of conventions.

Due to my audience feedback questionnaires, it is clear that

this successfully worked as they felt as if their expectations

were met and used to a great effect and felt as if they were

part of the intended target audience and agreed with my target

of a wide age range.

• Full questionnaires will be uploaded to my blog.