Target Audience

The target audience which I am going to aim my production at will be predominantly teenagers and young adults. Due to this my primary target audience would be both male and females aged 16-24, with a secondary audience of age 25-35. I have based it on this younger age group as I am able to relate to the needs of this category and they are also the predominant age group who attend the cinema. The genre of my trailer will represent this age group and using actors of this age, with themes they are likely to be interested in will attract and appeal to the age group. Aiming my product at both genders will allow me to expand my audience and attract more people. For this particular age range, the socio-economic groups which are most common are likely to be between E, D and C2. With this range of ages, genders and socioeconomic groups my audience will all have a range of interests, beliefs and attitudes , however one over all group I will aim my product as is modernists. This is as the majority of my target audience will fit into this category of general interests and ideas. I will be creating a questionnaire to ask my potential target audience about their interests. This way I will be able to find out from these groups I am aiming at what they are interested in and what their needs are.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire Results
Gender
In my questionnaire I asked 20 people of the ages of my primary target audience, which is people aged between 16 and 24. My secondary audience is between 24 and 34 so I gave a third of my questionnaires to people of these ages to ensure I received an accurate representation of the views and opinions of my potential audience. I also asked both males and females to get views of both genders as my movie trailer will be aimed at both. This means I am able to understand the needs of the whole of my target audience. The most popular choice of genre as I discovered from my questionnaire was urban drama which is a genre becoming increasingly popular over the recent years with films such as Kidulthood, This is England and Shifty rising to fame and popularity. The second most popular choices were horror and comedy which are two genres which can easily be incorporated into a comedy horror. Choosing a genre can be difficult as many genres include a mixture for example urban drama may contain elements of comedy and action, or a horror and action could combine to create a thriller movie.
47% Male Female 53%

Age
33%
16-24 years

67%

24-34 years

Which of the following genres do you prefer?

10% 23% Action Comedy 30% 14%

Horror
Urban Drama Rom-com

23%

I asked in the questionnaire whether my audience liked to see a trailer before going to see a film and followed this with a question asking what it is that makes them most want to watch a film whether this be the trailer, posters, social networks or reviews. It was evident from the results that a trailer is extremely important for a film in order to attract viewers and to promote the product. Only two people out of thirty stated they do not prefer to see the trailer before seeing a film which demonstrates that the majority of my target do see the trailer as important. When asked again what makes them most want to see a film, the majority of the audience I questioned stated the trailer which reiterates the importance of the trailer. The second most popular option for making a potential viewer want to see a film was reviews however this was dramatically lower with only 13% of people selecting this option. As so much emphasis has been put on the trailer by my potential target audience it shows that in order to be successful the trailer must raise interest and attract the audience.

Do you prefer to see the trailer before you see the film?
7% Yes No

93%

What most makes you want to see a film?

13% 7% Trailer Posters Social Networks Reviews 80%

To understand what the audience would want to see in a trailer I asked the qualitative question asking people what they personally felt is the most important thing to see in a film trailer. I received a range of answers for this question but one predominant idea that came across was that the audience thought it was important for a trailer to leave unanswered questions. This would involve revealing enough of the plot in the trailer to gain the viewers interest however also withholding information in order to create interest and leave them wandering what will happen in the film.

Whats the most important thing you would expect to see in a film trailer and why?

Following from the previous question I then asked a quantitative question asking a similar thing what in the trailer most makes them want to see a film - however giving the audience a selection of answers to chose from. I offered the choices of an interesting plot, specific actors and cliff hangers. Both interesting plot and cliff hangers were the two most popular answers gaining 40% each. This reiterates the idea I gained from the previous question that viewers want a trailer to reveal enough of the plot to gain interest however to withhold enough information to create cliff hangers and leave them wandering what happens next. I asked in the questionnaire where my potential target audience are most likely to watch a film trailer. By asking this I was able to gain a better understanding of my audience from the answers that they gave. The most popular answer that was given was at the cinema and on television was the third most popular answer. This shows that 67% of the people I asked do not go out of their way to watch film trailers but just watch them out of convenience, unlike the remaining 33% who stated they watch trailers on films websites, social networks and YouTube. From this I realise enough impact must be made in the trailer to attract an audience from the television as the majority of my audience are not likely to make an effort themselves to watch the trailer. I asked my target audience whether they preferred trailers with voiceover and soundtrack. The results I received were ambiguous with an almost 50/50 score for both options. This makes the decision for whether to have a voice over and soundtrack on my trailer difficult as there is no clear way. However, when I come to create my trailer I will be able to look at existing products to see how they are made successful.

What in a trailer most makes you want to see a film?

40%

40%

Interesting plot Speific actors Cliff hangers

20%

Where are you most likely to watch a film trailer? TV

7%3% 23% 20% Cinema Youtube Social networks 47% The films website

Do you prefer film trailers with or without a voice over?

Do you prefer film trailers with or without a soundtrack?

47% 53%

With Without

43% 57%

With Without

For my movie idea I was interested in creating a film from the social realist/urban drama genre so tailored a few questions to help me in the development of my movie idea.

What certificate films do you watch the most?

27% 17% U PG 12

As the urban drama genre often focus on taboo subjects I asked my 15 56% audience about the certificate of films that they usually watch. I 18 also asked the themes that my audience would be interested in seeing in an urban drama so I could compare these themes to the certificates watched. The certificates most watched by my audience In social realist films which of the following themes would you most want to see? were 15 and 18 which meant I was unsurprised to see the most 3% popular themes in social realist films for my audience were violence and drugs which are two themes seen predominantly in higher Violence 30% 27% Love certificate films due to the taboo surrounding these areas. Death The least popular theme my audience were interested in was Drugs pregnancy with only one person answering this theme to be one 20% 20% Pregnancy they would want to see. Death and love followed closely after violence and drugs, however from looking at existing social realist films, numerous themes are often found in products as this allows Which of the folowing films have you seen? more interesting plots. 30
25 22 13 4

27

I decided to ask my audience about existing products to see what 20 they saw as successes and what they were interested in. Adulthood 15 was the film which most people had seen with 90% of the people 10 5 asked having watched it. This was also the film which was most 0 popular due to the humour involved. Of the ten people who had seen shifty, nine answered this to be their favourite, due to the action seen in the film, with six people stating the fast pace of the action made the film more interesting than other urban dramas.

10

Which was your favourite and why?

General plot outline: Protagonist meets love interest Something goes wrong in relationship They make up/meet new people Comedy elements often included: a weird friend disastrous encounter meeting parents

+Accessible locations +Can mix with various different genres +Fits with the age category

Rom-com Limitations/constraints: Aimed predominantly at women Least popular genre (according to questionnaire Parody

General plot outline: People enter haunted house/woods/area and awaken/disturb a supernatural being Spooky happenings One person becomes possessed/contacted by the ghoul/ghost/demon/entity Happy ending: they contact/kill/remove the being Bad ending: the being kills one/all of the characters and continues to haunt people Limitations/constraints: Supernatural Needs to be scary/realistic Make up/props/effects could be difficult to do

General plot outline: Killer is on the loose (might have a reason to hate protagonist) Protagonists are isolated Plot twist Happy ending: protagonist survives Bad ending: they all die, killer continues to hunt people

Thriller

Comedy

General plot outline: Based upon another film of choice Takes out main plot of other film and mocks/ exaggerates the main features Limitations/constraints: Must avoid being offensive

Limitations/constraints: Effects could be difficult Horror Unable to do stunts

GENRE IDEAS

+Accessible locations +Can mix with various different genres +Popular genre with the target audience

Coming of age
General plot outline: Main protagonist usually a teenager Having trouble with friends/parents/love interest/morals and views Begin to develop relationships with friends/parents/love interest or begin to create moral/political views etc. Limitations/constraints: Has to be relatable +Appeals to the target audience +Accessible locations +Accessible actors +Relatable topics and themes

Urban Drama/ Social Realism

Themes often visited: Dreams/aspirations Classes Taboo subjects (e.g. drugs, sex, illness, death, crime) Moral views (e.g. racism, homophobia) Relationships Sexuality Suffering +Accessible locations +Popular genre with the target audience +Can incorporate a range of other genres

General plot outline: Protagonist/s live in a rough area Something goes wrong relating to crime/pregnancy/drugs etc. Problem is resolved via crime Limitations/constraints: Must be believable Must be able to approach taboo subjects in a way that is not offensive

Synopsis
Harry is a teenage boy diagnosed with schizophrenia living a sheltered life with his mother and father in the suburbs. He spends his life in routine around pills, school, meals, a therapist and sleep and avoids social interaction, and the others at school equally avoid him. Harry longs for a normal life and spends his classes listening in to peoples stories of weekends and fantasising what it could be like to experience this. He often has hallucinations of normal life and various different situations he could experience. A group of bullies at the school regularly mock Harry, however he is oblivious to this due to his constant fantasies to be apart of normality, so when they invite him to a party he is ecstatic. He spends the rest of the week researching what is normal and planning his night in his head imagining how it will be. When it comes to the evening of the party Harry pretends to feel sick and tells his parents hes going to bed but sneaks out. The disruption of his evening means Harry misses out on taking his medication. Harry arrives at the party much to the shock of the group who are unsure what to do but resort in laughing at Harry and shutting the door in his face. Harry becomes paranoid and angry and begins to have an psychotic turn. Entering the back garden Harry kills the hosts cat. When the party enter the garden to see what the commotion is Harry slips into the house. The point of view switches to the party go-ers as they attempt to work out what is going on as Harry slowly kills off the bullies one by one. The next morning Harry wakes up in his bed unaware of what happened the night before, and continues his life as normal.

Application to theories:
Todorov: -Equilibrium Harry has a happy and sheltered life -Disequilibrium the bullies make a joke of Harry by inviting him to the party -Recognition Harry realises he has been laughed at and seeks revenge -Repair he gets revenge by killing the bullies -New equilibrium he wakes up unaware of the previous night and returns to his sheltered life Levi-Strauss: Life/death, popular/unpopular, sane/insane Propp: Propps character roles are ambiguous in this trailer as it can be interpretted in different ways The villain the group of bullies would be considered the villains despite Harry being the killer The hero Harry

Synopsis
The protagonist Taylor lives in a rough area living a life of drugs and drinking with her friends. Taylors group of friends are heavily involved in the drug culture, with Taylor having one particular link with a violent dealer, K, renowned for being rough and for fancying Taylor. Behind this wild life style, Taylor has a close family friend Robert who is not interested in the lifestyle Taylor lives but prefers to stay at home, however he secretly loves Taylor despite her constant reminders of how he is like a little brother. One night Robert is at Taylors house due his troubled family life, he is drunk and tells her he loves her. She misunderstands and rejects him. She then proceeds to go out but leaves Robert at home as he feels uncomfortable with her friends. On her night out she meets K the drug dealer and gets high with her friends at the club. Later on in the night she is with K doing drugs when he makes a move on her, she rejects him and he becomes violent. After beating her up and attempting to rape her Taylor fights back and pushes K against the wall however he hits his head off a nail which kills him. Panicking she runs off and ends up finding Robert sitting on the edge of a bridge about to commit suicide. Completely oblivious to what Robert is doing she begs him for help and due to his love for her he obliges. Robert drives Taylor as they both run away from their problems and embark on a journey to some where unknown. On their journey they come to realise they both love each other and that they must face their demons.

Application to theories:
Todorov: -Equilibrium Taylor and Robert are living their lives content with how it is -Disequilibrium Taylor rejects Robert. Taylor kills the drug dealer. -Recognition She realises she needs to escape -Repair Taylor and Robert go on the run -New equilibrium They realise they love each other Levi-Strauss: Love/hate, life/death, happiness/sadness Propp: The villain K The hero Robert The damsel in distress Taylor

Synopsis
Virron a teenage Muslim boy moves house with his mother to an area where they are the ethnic minority to white people. Virron is an outcast at both his new school and in his area and him and his mother are greatly discriminated against receiving racial abuse daily. After months of isolation, the it girl at school, Jessica, is paired with Virron in a lesson for a science project which effects their final exam. Over the lessons together Jessica comes to like Virron and befriends him. Jessica introduces Virron to her group, where the boys are part of a gang, and although they are at first unsure, in a desperate bid to make friends Virron steals from the school to impress the group who accept him. As Virron becomes infatuated with Jessica and absorbed into their life of crime, he begins to lose touch with his roots and begins to hate his mother for her traditional Muslim values. Despite the general acceptance of Virron and his mother, anonymous racist attacks continue to happen with vandalism to their house etc. which Virron blames his mother for. Jessica and her boyfriend argue over Virron as Jack thinks they are going behind his back and Jack ends up hurting Jessica. As Virron does not like Jack anyway due to loving Jessica, when he sees the bruises he immediately goes to find and teach Jack a lesson despite Jessicas protests and the two fall out. How ever on his way realises it was Jack who mugged him and Jack who threatened to kill his mother. He runs home to find Jack attempting an arson attack on the house, Jack turns violent and it turns into a fight. Virrons mother returns home to find the house damaged and sees the two boys fighting so calls the police. Both boys are arrested however Virron is released which he then finds out is due to Jessica. She and the rest of the group kick him out however Virron realises this is for the best. He spends his final year of school isolated once again but becomes happy with his heritage and is content.

Application to theories:
Todorov: -Equilibrium Virron makes friends -Disequilibrium He looses touch with his roots and goes off the rails hurting people around him. Jack is going to hurt his mother. -Recognition He realises what Jack is doing -Repair He choses his mother over his friends and realises what he has become -New equilibrium He becomes content with who he is Levi-Strauss: Popularity/isolation, good/bad, love/hate, racism/equality, happiness/sadness

Propp: Villain Jack Hero Virron False hero Jessia Damsel in distress his mother

Pitch
Synopsis: There are two main protagonists; Taylor and Robert. They both come from similar backgrounds however have very different life styles with Taylor being heavily involved in the drinking, drugs and partying culture but Robert preferring to spend his time quietly alone. Despite these differences in interests they are very close friends although Robert is secretly in love with Taylor. They both live relatively troubled lives however Robert suffers greatly as his father is very abusive and his mother was having an affair meaning she was rarely there which contributed to his withdrawal from society. One night Roberts father finds out about his mothers affair and gets angry, he lashes out and ends up smashing up the house and starts to become violent towards Robert. Robert argues and fights with his Dad until finally escaping from the house. At the same time that this is going on Taylor has gone to club with her friends. She is drunk and has also taken drugs and is out of control. K, her drug dealer who is renowned for his violence and for fancying Taylor takes her out the club to give her some more drugs. He makes a move on Taylor who rejects him. He becomes violent as he believed that she liked him and attempts to rape her. Taylor fights back and tries to push him off her which results in K hitting his head on the corner of the wall which kills him. Intoxicated and unable to think properly Taylor panics and runs away, realising that she will be caught for this. She runs away from the club and finds Robert sitting on a bridge, about to attempt suicide however Taylor is completely unaware of what he is doing. She begs Robert to help her however does not tell him why she needs to get away. Despite having what he feels as nothing to live for any more, Roberts love for Taylor means he finds it impossible to leave her so they steal Roberts fathers car and drive off. They drive through the night however in the early hours of the morning they realise they will run out of petrol soon, and have no money to find this or for food. After pick pocketing a number of people they manage to continue to get by as they continue their journey to freedom. After weeks of sleeping in the car in various locations Robert feels as if he must now express his love towards Taylor however when he tells her she does not know how to react which upsets Robert. He walks away to give himself time to think, and Taylor does the same. Taylor is sitting In a pub alone and sees Roberts father come in, she hides as she watches him threaten a man asking where she and Robert are, and as the man tells Roberts father where he saw Robert. She escapes out of the back entrance as she races to find Robert before his father does but its too late. Robert and his father fight and Robert gets badly injured. In this moment Taylor realises that she loves Robert and attacks his father. The police arrive and Taylor plants her drugs in his pocket then cries to the police, lying how he attacked Robert when Robert rejected buying drugs off of him. Roberts father is arrested and as the films with Taylor and Robert sitting on a bench as the police car drives away. Representation: Young people are represented in various different ways in the movie. Some typical negative stereotypes are followed such as teenagers being rough and violent, doing illegal and immoral things such as drugs and drinking. Another negative representation shown is the naivety of young people and this is shown through Taylor and Roberts lack of knowledge of the world. It also challenges the typical stereotypes and representations of teenagers and this is done through showing the development of the protagonists relationship as they try to help each other and learn and grow. Genre: The genre of this film is urban drama/social realism. This is shown through the themes I have used in the film. I have included taboo subjects such as rape, drugs, violence and death with are themes often covered in urban drama and social realist films. The development of relationships and love is also a common theme explored in these films and I have incorporated this into my movie idea. Due to these taboo themes , my movie would be a certificate 15 or higher as theses themes would not be able to be shown in anything rated lower than this.