Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract and address your audience?

During the research stage of creating my film I looked into my target audience and who I was aiming my media product at. I said from the beginning that I would aim my product at males aged 18-25. From the questionnaire and focus group the main thing I found out about my target audience is that they like the feeling of the unknown and don't like predictability. They also said that they enjoyed violence and danger in thriller films which would be another thing I needed to focus on. Lastly, when asked about what conventions of a thriller they preferred, one of the main answers was the build up of tension to a significant or revealing moment.  While making my film I would need to address the audience by meeting their preferences and demands. Including the things that they have said they like will mean they will be attracted to my film and therefore watch it.

First of all, I focused on building tension within the film as this was quite a popular demand from the audience so I thought it would be best to make this my main goal. I built tension in several ways ranging from mise en scene to sound. The low-key lighting in the interrogation room enhanced an eerie mood which built tension up to the moment where Matt's character agreed to help attempt to track down the missing criminal. Along with this I used quiet music with a rising tempo to add to the build up of tension. I believe that this will excite the audience and make them keep watching as it almost indicates that a large, dramatic moment will occur soon. The location, Bowdon Rugby Club, is completely surrounded by fields which I think was  significant because it shows that the place is isolated essentially connoting vulnerability and foreshadowing criminal activity.  This will attract the audience because they will know, from the isolation of the 'bank' that something evil will take place.

Next I aimed to create the feeling of the unknown as this would link in to building tension. I did this using a cliff hanger at the end of the first scene. Matt's character agrees to help track down the missing man who threatens the country which leaves the audience wondering what will happen next. Will the criminal and police work together to find the wanted man? Or will they fail to do so and be under threat from him? The only way to find out is to keep watching which draws them in even further so they can't stop watching. I did this also when Jonny's character was running across the field into the distance. The audience don't see him till very late on in the film so in between they are left guessing where he has gone, what he is doing and will he be seen again.

Finally, I included violence early on in the film, when Matt got hit over the head with Jonny's gun, to immediately draw in the audience. They will see it and from then on out know that there is more to come because its so early on in the film. Aggressive language is also used to further prepare the audience for the aggression and violence later on in the film. In the interrogation room, in the second half of the scene,  the police man appears to be aggressive towards the criminal showing his desperation to find the missing man. I think I further attracted the audience by having a large event occur so early on in the film to set the barrier of what is yet to come.


I believe that within my opening sequence I used the uses and gratification model because it allowed the audience to escape reality and simply relax. The dominant theme of violence and crime in the opening bank robbery scene is perhaps unrealistic in modern society and so therefore the audience can use the text as a form of escapism.