AS level evaluation question four, answer by Laura Vaabel

1. By LauraVaabel

2.  Our target audience was the age group of 15-25, this is because this
is the age category that we believed would be most interested in the
genre of neo noir. Neo noir films offer themes of drama, romance
and action, we believed that this explains why this age category
would be best fitting for our product because these are popularly
watched themes.The themes that are incorporated are not gender
specific and so we widened our audience by not making it so,
although it involved romance, it was not typically ‘feminine’ or
affectionate love.Therefore males would be able to relate and find
escape within the product also.
 The main purpose to our production was to generate entertainment
and a form of escapism for our audience. We made sure not to
advertise the use of drug use or violence by representing it in a
negative way and so this meant that we were able to aim our
product at a younger audience that tend to be more impressionable
and so we were not forced to categorise the film as an 18 rating.

3.  We have rated our film a 15.This was decided because content will be featured that is
deemed by the BBFC as too mature for a 12 rating, yet it is thought that it will not
involve material that is considered explicit enough for an 18.
 In our sequence, the concept of drug use is incorporated when the main protagonist is
slipped Rohypnol in his alcoholic beverage.The effects of which are shown within the
sequence as he loses consciousness. In a 15, the BBFC outlines that “drug taking may be
shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse”.
 Strong language is intended to be used in our work, however this is acceptable in a 15
because there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. ‘f***’),
stronger terms may be used(e.g. ‘c***’), depending on the manner in which they are
used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification.
As we only have one or two accounts of strong language (whilst the character is in pain)
in our titles, it abides by this specification.
 Although infrequent sights of drug misuse is allowed in 12/12A films, according to the
BBFC, our sequence will be rated 15 so to not provide instructional detail on drugs.
 As it is a 15, we cannot expect our product to be watched by anyone under the age of
15.Therefore, we will not include much romanticised content (like conventional love
stories and typical hero and villain plot lines) that audiences’ could believe to be aimed
at the under 15 age bracket.

4.  This information is used in the context of
media marketing, it classifies the audience by
their gender, age and race etc.
 It’s then slimmed down into bands that are
dependent upon their job/status.

5. Code: Status/Job
A Lawyer, doctor, higher management etc.
B Middle management, graphic designers, teachers etc.
C1 Junior management, nurses, white collar jobs
C2 Skilled manual workers, builders, blue collar jobs
D Semi and unskilled manual workers
E Students, casual workers, unemployed

6.  Our media product would most likely appeal the most to the C1, D
and E sub sectors, I think this because these are the people who are
most likely to be able relate the film back to their livelihoods. As
they are in lower paid jobs, they are thus more likely to be exposed
to lower socio-economic areas and are therefore more likely than
the higher paid job sub sectors to witness or have experience with
the themes that are presented in our sequence, drug use and
violence.
 On top of this, our audience is aimed at a younger group of people, it
is my belief that these 3 sub sectors are more likely to contain this
age category as they are just establishing their careers. On top of
this, the male protagonist is presented as being in a white collar job
(we can tell this by the costume in the mise en scene of the
production), this would thus mean that people from the C1 sub
sector are the potentially the most likely audience to have the ability
to be able to relate to this character because they are of a similar
age and profession.

7.  Neo noir films, in general, are aimed at all the sub sectors
within the demographic table.The audience range is to
wide to specify which particular backgrounds these films
are aimed at, although most present the characters as
wearing formal attire, this is not necessarily because they
are trying to get people from certain sub sectors to relate
to the characters profession.
 However, the profession of law enforcement is popularly
incorporated within this genre.This would come under the
C2 sub sector because it is skilled manual work.This may
suggest they are aimed at this sub sector as an audience
as they are trying to get the audience to relate to the
characters within the plot lines.

8.  This is the method that is used to section
audiences based on their lifestyle, personality
and social class.
 Psychographics are based on the assumption
that audiences by certain products and
brands that reflect their lifestyle, personality
and social class.

9. Aspirers These people look for status, they’re materialistic, sentimental, orientated around
image and appearance. Generally younger people and are acquisitive.
Resigned This audience looks for survival, they’re rigid and have authoritarian values, typically
interested in past and tradition, these are generally older people.
Strugglers These people seek escape, they’re alienated and disorganised with few resources
beyond physical skills.They often buy alcohol, junk food and scratch cards.These
people are typically within lower demographics.
Explorers This audience seeks discovery, they have energy, individualism and experience.They
tend to value difference and adventure, they’re often a younger demographic (e.g.
Students).
Mainstreamers These people look for security, they’re generally domestic, conformist and
conventional.These are the largest group and are sentimental.
Reformers This audience looks for enlightenment, they are free of restrictions and personal
growth.They tend to have social awareness and independent judgement.
Succeeders These people look for control, they have strong goals for themselves, confidence, work
ethic and organisation.These are typically professionals and in higher management.

10.  Neo noir films offer a lot of drama, romance and
action generally, this would appeal to many
different psychographic sections for a variety of
reasons so it is impossible to narrow it down to
just a few.
 For example, neo noir films could appeal to both
‘strugglers’ and ‘mainstreamers’ simply because
the films tend to offer the theme of romance, it
could be categorised in both of these because
romance gives the audience an opportunity to
discover modern love stories and portray the
conventional theme of romance.

11.  In my opinion, I believe our sequence would most likely
appeal to ‘explorers’ and ‘strugglers’.
 I think the product would attract ‘explorers’ because they
seek discovery in films, therefore it could be an interpretation
that they would want to watch our production, ‘Red’, because
it offers a different type of situation that an audience could
be thrown into and could be used as a form of escapism and
so they could discover more about themselves and their
opinions on sensitive matters (like drug use and violence)
from watching this film.
 ‘Strugglers’ tend to indulge in more unrealistic situations, this
is something that our product offers. So, they would be able
to use this product as a form of escape from their, generally
alienated, lifestyle.

12.  This model suggests that people use media products
in order to gain something from them. For example,
leisure, diversion or escapism.
 Our film would be used as a method of escapism, this
is because it includes generally fictional content that it
is unlikely for our actual audience to have first hand
experience dealing with themselves. Hence, it could
be thought that the audience could use this
production as a form of escapism because it is
unrealistic and they can put themselves in an
unrealistic, virtual situation and gain escapism from
the stresses of their day to day lives.