evaluation - question four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The primary target audience we decided to aim our film at are:

• Between the ages of 18
• Predominantly of the male gender
• An American audience
• Interests in reading about conspiracies

The reason as to why we chose this type of audience was primarily because stereotypically, males are more interested in psychological thrillers than females. We also felt that our film would appeal more to the male target audience because of the presence of a heavily controversial issue that is regarded with seriousness. Because of this issue, we also felt that maturity is required out of our target audience, which is way the age range extends to an older target audience. However, we also believed that it may also attract young adults due to the fact that the topic of the 9/11 attacks is still recent and referenced to, and is an event relevant to the modern audience because terrorist attacks are still widely sensationalised in the news, and many young people have grown up constantly hearing about the threat of terrorism. Younger generations also find psychological thrillers more compelling because they trigger a thought process which requires them to actively pay attention to what is going on in the film, ensuring that their interest is constantly engaged with unpredictable events. We have also chosen to target this audience because the main character is a young adult with an obvious problem, and many people, often males, are commonly interested in characters that are twisted yet still relatable to themselves. This is because it offers escapism when viewing a film, whilst still being able to relate to it to an extent.
Americans will have a particular interest in the topics and themes, as it is more relevant and personal to them due to the setting being in America, as well as the actual even taking place there also. An audience of a different ethnicity may be more apathetic towards the issue because it didn't directly concern or affect them.
We envisioned that the target audience of our genre will have an avid interest in other thrillers, not necessarily psychological but those that are intellectually stimulating. Recently released films that our target audience may also be interested in would be Shutter Island, Salt, and Buried. All three are thriller films also targeted at a male dominated target audience.

• Secondary target audience:
• Both genders
• Wider age range of 16-60
• A range of ethnicities

There are themes in our film that allow an audience of both genders to empathise with the character. The psychological disorder in our main character attracts people that have had experiences with similar mental disorders. This is because there are numerous mental disorders that are very common, and whilst they are not as severe as Schizophrenia they still allow an audience to relate to the character, and transport them into a reality where their affliction can be considered a gift with extraordinary powers. A range of ethnicities can be targeted as a secondary audience, due to the fact that New York, where the actual attacks took place, is a highly multicultural place, so the event would have effected various ethnicities. In addition to this, the threat of terrorism is an international concern, meaning our film can be marketable to other nationalities also.