Thursday, 27 March 2014

5) How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?

We attracted our audience by using the Uses & Gratification theory:

  • INFORMING THE AUDIENCE - we hoped to show to our core audience (young women) that women can be strong and intelligent yet still desirable. We hoped to do this by having Leora as the inventor of the time device, and having a female protagonist in an action film, breaking the convention of having male heroes that save the 'damsel in distress'
  • ENTERTAINING THE AUDIENCE - in our opening, we tried to entertain the audience using a variety of action film conventions. For example, we started the opening with a chase scene, instantly throwing the audience into the action. We also added the punch to not only show Leora as a strong character, but to further entertain the audience, as fight scenes are common in action films. Lastly, we added the time travelling at the end of our opening, not only giving the audience a chance to see the device working, but to add an enigma, as the audience don't know where Leora has jumped to, or what will happen next.  
  • ESCAPISM - our film provides an escape from normal life, as it involves fictitious elements, such as time travel. By starting with the chase scene, the audience are instantly immersed in the action and can lose themselves in the tension of the scene.
  • PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS - the audience can talk about the film to their friends, fulfilling the need for companionship as well as having the chance to form new relationships with fellow sci-fi and action fans
  • PERSONAL IDENTITY - the audience, particularly female audience members, can relate to the characters and see themselves in the film. For example, Leora presents women as strong and intelligent.
    Leora connoting strength by successfully punching the Henchman
I interviewed two women, one from the core audience (16-24 year olds) and one from the secondary audience (women who enjoy watching well-represented female characters), about our film opening. I also interviewed another secondary audience member (a male British sci-fi fan).


What is the film title?
Grace identified the name of the film easily

What genre do you think the film is, and why?
She also easily stated what the genre was and why, such as the chase scenes connoting action

What kind of cinema would you expect to see this film in - multiplex (like Cineworld) or independent cinemas?
She also identified that the film was a studio production, so it would be more likely to be exhibited in multiplexes such as Cineworld

Who do you think the intended audience of this film was? (age, gender, tastes?)
Grace also thought that the audience was what we had intended, such as women being well represented so it appeals to female audiences

Could you describe what happens in the opening?
She understood the opening, but pointed out that the time travel was not that clear, which could be an area of improvement

What do you think the rest of the film is about?
Grace's guess as to what the rest of the film would be was quite close to what we had planned, such as a confrontation resulting in fight

Do you think the opening works in terms of introducing settings, characters and themes?
Grace said we introduced characters and themes well, but she was unclear as to where the film was set, and what time era, which could also be improved - for example, the London skyline was not that clear

What is your favourite part of the sequence?
Grace thought that Leora punching the Henchman was the best part, because it was "quite funny', and also because it showed women to be strong and powerful

What do you think could be improved?
Obviously making the setting more clear, but she thought the technical side was ok from an inexperienced person's point of view

Would you want to watch the rest of the film? Why/why not?
She would because she was interested by the opening, and she wanted to know what would happen to Leora if or when the Henchman caught up with her

What is your favourite genre of film?
Comedy, as she is not a huge fan of drawn out fight scenes.


What is the film title?
Lorraine identified the name of the film easily

What genre do you think the film is, and why?
She also easily stated what the genre was and why, such as the mask of the Henchman

What kind of cinema would you expect to see this film in - multiplex (like Cineworld) or independent cinemas?
Lorraine didn't identify that it was a studio production, instead saying that it was independent

Who do you think the intended audience of this film was? (age, gender, tastes?)
She did get what our core audience was, as well as our secondary audience due to the female representation

Could you describe what happens in the opening?
She understood the opening very well, but thought that Leora was trying to contact something rather than a time device

What do you think the rest of the film is about?
Lorraine's guess as to what the rest of the film would be was also close to what we had planned

Do you think the opening works in terms of introducing settings, characters and themes?
Lorraine thought it was effective as she wanted to find out what happened, and she also knew what the characters were meant to be like, as well as noticing the futuristic skyline

What is your favourite part of the sequence?
Her favourite part was when Leora jumped in time as she wasn't expecting it

What do you think could be improved?
She couldn't think of anything to improve, and thought it was well-polished

Would you want to watch the rest of the film? Why/why not?
She would because she was interested by the opening, and she wanted to know what would happen to Leora if or when the Henchman caught up with her, and why he was chasing her

What is your favourite genre of film?
Thrillers, dramas, realistic films, as well as sci-fi films such as Blade Runner, and independent films like Pan's Labyrinth, and light comedies

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