Q5

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attempted to make our thriller opening ‘Homeless’ appeal to an audience of the 15-24 female demographic and in order to do this we created a representation which does not marginalise this gender, unlike other texts of the genre. Our character Norma is portrayed as a deviant, independent female. The fact that Norma violently attacks a male character breaks the social conventions associated with the gender and so will appeal more to a female audience who will greatly appreciate the fact that the representation created of the female gender is not marginal.

For example, the 2006 film ‘Gangs of New York’ focuses significantly on deviant male behaviour and as a result the audience demographic, according to IMDb, comprises mostly of males, with a female audience likely to be put off by the marginalisation of females in the text. Similarly, a female audience was also put off the 1976 ‘Taxi Driver’ due to the dominant position that Travis Bickle is in, in comparison to the females, who are presented as being dependent on male support, such as Iris, who is shown to be in a vulnerable position, and as a result is saved by the male character. As we wished to attract a female audience, we decided that we must create a misogynistic representation of the female gender through character, and create a female who requires no male support, unlike Iris in ‘Taxi Driver’. Furthermore, the nature of Norma, in that she is seen as mad or even racist could be viewed by some of our audience as a misogynistic representation.

Character

Costume

Furthermore, by incorporating elements of film noir femme fatale in the costume and characteristics of Norma I believe that we further target our young female audience. When recognised, this intertextuality will signify a misogynist representation in which the audience will be able to identify with Norma, thus making the appeal stronger. Also, by incorporating similar elements of mise en scene to an iconic era in film production into our thriller opening, we are addressing an audience with an interest in the thriller genre.

Cliff hangerAt the cliff-hanger we are still in the shoes of Sam as he is violently attacked by Norma. This climactic event gives an uncensored presentation of British youth culture, in which our thriller opening represents the idea that young people in Britain actively prey on one another. This was a key factor in how we addressed our audience, being set around a representation that they will hold a strong view on.

Lighting Similarly, the lighting in our thriller opening appeals to an audience with both a knowledge and an interest in the thriller genre, due to the fact that it makes reference to similar thriller texts in which its use is to create tension and suspense, as well as highlighting significant characters. We use chiaroscuro lighting in our thriller opening to similar effect as that used in ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ where Count Orlok is highlighted for dramatic effect. For example we use chiaroscuro lighting when establishing Norma as a deviant character, and also during the tracking shot of Norma approaching Sam in order to add aesthetic interest; something which fans of the thriller genre will recognise as a generic element, thus targeting this audience.

Audience feedback suggests that we have quite successfully achieved the interest of our target audience for ‘Homeless’, with those of the audience demographic reporting that they found the thriller opening both interesting and attractive.

When asking an audience member of our target demographic; 15-24 female, the results came back mainly positive in that they appeared to favour the production.

This participant awarded 5s for both camera work & editing and mise en scene suggesting that we have successfully attracted our target audience in the way that we represent particular social groups. Being a young female, it is clear that this participant favours ‘Homeless’ because of its unconventional representation of this gender and age group.

This participant being a male 15-24 year old demonstrates how are film has greater appeal to a female audience due to Norma’s dominance.

The male candidate still claims to find certain elements such as the camera work and the narrative attractive, most likely due to the fact that they are interested in the representation of their age group in the thriller opening, however when asked whether the opening would encourage them to watch the whole film they respond with a ‘no’; evidence that the film’s emphasis on female dominance is unattractive to a male audience.

On the other hand this 15-24 year old, female candidate echoes the other female participants views in that they find the mise en scene to be attractive, reporting that they find the sequence to hold their attention, most likely due to the emphasis on female strength, which is contrary to the generic conventions associated with gender.

Unlike the male candidate, this participant answered ‘Yes’ when asked whether they would be inspired to watch the full film, suggesting that this audience member’s ability to relate to the characters has led them to take interest in the plotline. Furthermore, they mentioned that one of the best features of the production was the performances, from which we can imply that this female candidate has taken great interest in the representations created by the characters and actors, meaning that we have successfully attracted our target audience.