Crime-Thriller films appeal to a broad audience ranging from ages 15 to 40, though they tend to attract more male viewers. Males are drawn to the criminal elements and action, while females enjoy the suspense and intrigue. Crime-Thrillers combine elements of crime films and thrillers, focusing on criminals and their activities like robberies and shootouts. The target audience for these films is typically ages 15-35 and includes both men and women from a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who seek adventure and discovery. Data from popular Crime-Thrillers like The Departed and Heat show they are favored most by younger male viewers ages 18-29, though those ages 30-44 also rate
Framing an Appropriate Research Question 6b9b26d93da94caf993c038d9efcdedb.pdf
Target Audience of Crime-Thriller Films
1. The target audience of Crime-Thriller films vary as they have a big age range are for both genders,
although Males are the more predominant gender.
In the Crime genre element of my trailer’s genre, the male actors interest the females as males are
stereotypically involved in the crime, whilst the female actresses attract the male audience as they
tend to be attractive, high-profile women i.e. Emma Stone in ‘Gangster Squad’.
The certificate foraCrime filmisusuallya 15 and
from this, we learn this is where the age range
begins for the genre’s target audience. The age
range for Crime films is 15 to 40 years old, as
people of an older generation tend to become
more invested in Crime related films and
programmes.
Similarly, Thriller films attract audiences as they
findthe plotsengaging,interestingandfilledwith
suspense from the get-go however due to this,
they attract a younger audience and have a
younger age range then Crime films. Like Crime
filmsthe age certificationistypicallya15, due to
the violence and often frightening nature of the
crimes. Thrillers also appeal to both genders.
Males are interested in Thrillers as they tend to
be action packed, which excites them and puts
them on the edge of their seat, whereas females
are usually attracted to Thrillers as they like to
watch somethingthathas them askingquestions
in theirheads,wonderingwhatwill happennext.
A sub-genre of Thrillerisa combinationof bothcrime filmsandthrillers,whichexplore successfulor
failed crimes. They usuallyemphasise on the criminals rather than the policemen, and tend to focus
more on actionover psychological aspects.Topicsincludeserial killers,murderers,robberies,chases,
shootouts and heists.
As Crime-Thrillers tend to be similar to action thrillers they attract a similar audience - more of a
youngermale audience. Asthereare twogenres,the demographicforthe audience canbe bothurban
andrural,withthe race andethnicityvaryingdependingonthefilmi.e.afilmsuchas‘DeadPresidents’
(1995) about an African-AmericanVietnamWarveteranstaginga bank heistwouldattract the black
community,asthe majorityof the castare all fromthatsame ethnicgroup.Alongwithvariedethnicity
it is the same in terms of job status, as fans of Crime-Thrillers can range from people in higher
management to students and casual workers. The psychographic for this audience too has a vast
range.Predominately,itattractspeople whofitthe Explorerspsychographic,asfilmshave the power
tomake people escape fromrealityandletthemexperiencesomethingnewanddifferent.Thisiswhat
Explorers want as they seek discovery and value difference and adventure.
2. As my traileris of a filmin the Crime-Thrillergenre,the audience age range will be from 15-35 years
old.I decidedthisage range as due to my filmbeinga sub-genre itwill borrow from bothits genres:
Thrillersaimfora youngeraudience whilstCrime filmsaimforbotha youngerandolderaudience,so
an age range of 15-35 is the best in my opinion. By doing this, neither genre's audience will be
isolated. PopularCrime-Thrillerfilmstendtogo for a similarage range alsoand also findthat people
of that range liked the film the most. For example, ‘The Departed’:
Aswe cansee from the userratingreportonIMDB
(right) peopleof theage range 18-29likedthe film
the most, withthe votingaverage being8.7/10. If
with look into this further, the 288,420 Males
votersin thisage range also ratedthe filmhigher
compared to Females that are also in that age
range. This supports my point of how Crime-
Thrillers are predominately for a younger Male
audience, as the data shows they favoured the
film the most. Despite rating the film lower than
the younger age range, the 344,581 people aged
30-44 alsovotedhighlyforthefilmwithan8.1/10.
Thisshowshowthe filmisevenbeingfavouredby
the fans of the Crime genre specifically,as they
tend to be of an older generation.
Another film with similar data is ‘HEAT’ (1995), a classic
Crime-ThrillerwithAl Pacino,RobertDe NiroandVal Kilmer.
The data shows how like with ‘The Departed’, people of the 18-29 age range favoured the film the
most, with an average rating of 8.3/10 from 122,717 voters; from 122,773 votes from Males of that
age range the average was also8.3/10, which isalso the same average from people of the 30-44 age
range (201,054 voters).
3. From the initial research and planning of my trailer decisionshave already been made to reflect our
targetaudience,suchasthe main protagonistsbothbeingcriminals.The Thrillerelementcomesinto
the film when the main character must become an informant for the police, creating a tense and
suspensful atmosphere throughout the trailer and film. The Crime element is incorporated into the
story with the second protagonist, as he is tasked to try and track down the informant in the ranks.
With thischaracters perspective inthe trailer,he will give the olderaudience the Crime aspectsthat
theyare eagerto see as he ruthlesslytries totrackdownthe traitor.The filmwill alsobe a certificate
15, further meeting conventions.