Todorov

Gustav Freytag and Denis Johnston

Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes

Narrative - Jung Archetypes, Prop

Identification of Target Audience

There are a number of theories which relate to constructing an audience or the make-up of the audience. If we identify the make-up, more than just focusing on age, we are able to target them specifically through our use of image design technique.

Graeme Burton: 

• identifies the difference between socially grouped audiences (gender, age, place in society - class etc.) and media grouped audiences (grouped by relationship with the media such as computer users, film goers, newspaper readers etc.) 
• In relation to our film package, our audience will gain enjoyment from the entertainment of film as a media product. They will enjoy frequent visits to the cinema, perhaps as part of a social gathering. Their interests will lie in watching genres such as supernatural horrors and the suspense and mystery that can be drawn from these. 
• For my music magazine, my audience will be media grouped by their liking of magazines, particularly of the pop music genre. 

John Hartley: 

• expands upon Burton's classification of socially grouped audiences. 
• He identifies 7 subjectives: 

1. Self - grouped by aspirations, ambitions 
2. Gender - associated motives depending on gender - different ways of representing each gender, targeting them and different gains to a gender specific audience. 
3. Age Group - different age groups, stereotypically have different priorities, needs and aims in life, different methods for different age ranges.
4. Family - place in the family, for example a parent or the child, a different way of presenting to target specific members. 
5. Class - Different social classes have distinct priorities from one another. 
6. Nation - The country a group comes from and its style. Western societies (Britain, North America, Canada, France, Germany, Italy etc) follow common ideals (capitalism - consumerism, cultural hegemony, classes) such as hard work to achieve their aims. Cultural Imperialism refers to the influence of American Media values on the world e.g. beautiful = slim and sexy. Other cultures follow different values. 
7. Ethnicity - ethnic grouping of an audience.

Our audience can be divided into most of these categories. The gender our film trailer primarily aims at is females, with the secondary audience being males. We have targeted our audience through the use of female actors portraying the protagonists (Morgan, Evie) and antagonists (Supernatural Entity).We have challenged typical stereotypes associating with the genre of our film such as the passivity and helper roles females are commonly portrayed as. Our hero, Morgan, is a female, opposing a stereotype of a strong male figure saving the day. Morgan faces twists and turns in the trailer but within our synopsis she is the character that triumphs. Typically in supernatural horrors, the malicious entity is a female from the past with a tragic historical background as to why they're so traumatised and causing havoc as a result. We have matched this type with our supernatural entity figure, the idea of a female at the reigns of control is something that our primary audience may feel they can relate to.

The age range of our audience is 15-24 years. A young audience may class social activities as a priority and therefore wish to go to the cinema fulfilling this need. One of their aims may also be to maintain social relations, by watching our film they will be able to do this if watching with a friend or family member. Our audience may also have the need for excitement, due to being quite energised  and enthusiastic about watching the latest films. The suspense and enigma of our trailer and package will provide our audience with the excitement they may require.

Towards the younger age of our bracket our audience may take the role of the child or teenager of the family. Some teenagers may be associated with the characteristic of being rebellious, and therefore enjoy being entertained by the terrors and chaos in our supernatural horror trailer. The older age within the bracket may be considered young adults and may simply enjoy the thrill of our film through our promotional tools.

The socio-economic grouping of our audience is B, C1 and C2. This may be due to our audience relying on their parents or family for financial support in order to frequently go to the cinema.

John Fiske: 

• adds a further 5 factors to be considered when identifying features of audiences

1. Education - level received by audience, different ways of targeting them according to this. E.g. Uni students aged 24 will need a different reason to follow a media message than 24 year olds who left school at the age of 16. 

2. Religion - specific group? all? - importance of families, friendship. 

3. Political Allegiance - different political groups present different priorities in life. Labour - equality, Conservative - ability for individuals to succeed if they work hard. 

4. Region - different places have distinct values.
5. Urban vs Rural - town vs country. For people who live in a town there may be a focus on image and the aesthetics of life.


Many of our audience members may still be in education; whether compulsory or higher. Our older audience members may just be leaving or have left higher eduction or could even be in a full-time job. The majority of our audience toward the end of our age bracket will be able to financially support themselves and therefore able to frequently visit the cinema as a social activity.

Most of our audience would live in a town or city and therefore have access to a cinema or highly advanced technologies to be able to view our trailer. Our film poster could also be placed in city centres reaching out to a wider and mainstream audience.
 

Two-Step Flow

5 Entertainment Preference Dimensions

Developed by Rentfrow, Goldberg and Zilca, it is a new theory.

An investigation was conducted in aid of discovering an individual's preference in terms of entertainment.

3000 people took part in the investigation, the factors that influenced the dimensions were demographics and personality traits.

The 5 entertainment dimensions are: Communal, Aesthetic, Dark, Thrilling, Cerebral

High-brow - audiences enjoy music, art, books (Cerebral, Aesthetic)
Low-brow - audiences enjoy films and television (Communal, Rebellious)


The target audience for our film package may fall under Dark the Thrilling dimensions, these two dimensions would fit into the low-brow category:

Dark:

Music: Heavy Metal, Punk, Rock
Film Genre: Horror, Action/Science Fiction, Cult, Erotic
Individual Characteristics: Defiant, Reckless, Immodest. (These descriptors may resemble some of the key characteristics associated with the preferred media genres)

Thrilling:

Film Genre: Action, Sci-fi, War
Books: Action, Adventure, Espionage
Television: Action, Mystery, Sci-fi
Individual Characteristics: Ingenuity, Competence, Quickness (There were no consistent correlations or patterns for the personality traits of those preferring this entertainment factor, however these specified characteristics were found to associate)

Our audience may have preference to the genres under the Dark factor due to them enjoying watching Horror films, and the genre of ours being a supernatural horror. Our audience may also enjoy the appeal of action which occurs in our trailer or may associate with our film poster or front cover: Morgan frantically running through the forest trying to find her sister; the slow yet sometimes hurried and quickening motion of Morgan in her house, before and after seeing the terrifying image of the supernatural entity and the many horrifying sightings of the entity drawing closer to Morgan. The dog running off is also the inciting moment which leads to the remainder of the action in our trailer.
Some of the characteristics of those who prefer the Dark factor do not necessarily match that of our audience, perhaps fitting characteristics such as quickness, as to enjoy the twists and turns of a supernatural horror and ingenuity, due to being inventive and clever in suggesting what may happen in moments of mystery and suspense. These characteristics associate with the Thriller dimension.

Our audience members may also prefer the genres found in the Thriller dimension such as Mystery and like Dark, Action. The enjoyment of watching Mystery on TV could link to their liking of the mystery and enigma that our trailer, poster and cover provides.

Audience - Hypodermic Needle, Socio-Economic Groups, NRS and Great British Class Survey

Utopian Solutions - Richard Dyer

Dyer believed that audiences consume media products with a clear set of pleasures to draw from these experiences. 

Similar to Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratifications Theory. 

Both suggest that audiences consume media products as a means of escaping reality. 

 ''...expressing ideals about how human life could be organised and lived….Entertainment offers the image of ‘something better’ to set against the realities of day-to-day existence’’

The three reasons generated by reality that audiences choose to consume media are:

Social Tension 

Inadequacy 

Absence 

The consumption of media provides a 'utopian solution'. 

Social Tension/Utopian Solution: 

Exhaustion/Energy

Scarcity/Abundance 

Dreariness/Intensity 

Manipulation/Transparency 

Fragmentation/Community  

Reality: Tiring, poverty, boring routines, manipulation and rehousing

Utopian Solution: Active, material things, emotion and energy, honesty and love, sense of belonging

In relation to our film package, our target audience may wish to engage or watch our trailer and consequent film as a means of escaping, perhaps the 'harsh' reality they are in. However, as a supernatural horror, our trailer features a fair amount of distress and suffering for the protagonist Morgan, this perhaps may provide reassurance for our audience about the reality they are experiencing, the idea that nothing can get worse for them due to the unfortunate circumstances of the characters within our trailer. However, our film may portray a sense of action, emotion, energy, love and intensity, which are considered utopian solutions to the tiring, dreariness and manipulation of reality. Our target audience (15-24 years, primarily females) may wish to buy or read our film front cover, observe our poster and watch our trailer as a means of securing a pleasure of excitement, intensity and enjoyment, things which may lack in the world of reality. Our film package may guarantee the entertainment which 'offers the image of something better'.