Evaluation Question 5

5.  How did you attract/address your audience?

We used a variety of different techniques to attract our target audience to our film. The main way we did this was through the use of the mise en scene of the characters and the camera shots. With the genre of our film being thriller we had to create an atmosphere of fear and tension to fit the general codes and conventions of a film of the genre. 

To create the conventional tension of the film we used things such as non-diegetic soundtracks that were like those you would see in a real media thriller. The iconography for a soundtrack for a thriller will be low pitched, slow and bass heavy, inducing fear into the audience, as they don’t know what to expect next. The sound effect we decided to use was a very important choice in the production, as this was the main basis of letting the audience aware of the genre of the opening. 

Our group did some background research into the other films of the genre and decided to look for some sort of soundtrack that was similar to those of a real media product. After continuous searching on copyright free websites we came across the perfect piece that was inevitable for our final piece. 

Another conventional theme we used in our opening, to create attention with the viewer, would be the use of the loud non-diegetic thumping sound, with the screen going black at the same time. This all happens in a short space of time and it has the intention of making the audience jump and induce fear. This is an iconography of the genre with almost all the opening we researched into including a similar theme in their opening. Inducing fear into the audience is a major objective that we needed to follow throughout the opening of our theme, as without the subject of fear, the audience would not be attracted to the film as much as intended.

Another way we created suspense was with the choice of camera movement and shots. The camera movements that we used ensured to never reveal the identity of the antagonist. This is a technique that we used to create a feel of mystery, which is a convention of the genre. This is a technique used in many Hollywood thrillers, as it is a way of subliminally engaging the viewer into wanting to continue watching the film to see whom the protagonist is and when the identity is revealed.

A more specific way that targets the audience would be the main actors. For example teenagers will find actors of the ages 17-18 more applicable and relatable too. This is a similar age as the target audience, which will likely make them want to continue watching. We dressed our actors in clothes that fit the stereotype of a teenage today, which also fit the ‘relatable’ theme we were going for.