Part four and five of my AS Media production evaluation.

1. Q. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR
YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT, AND HOW DID YOU
ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?
ALEXANDER STAPLETON MEDIA PRODUCTION EVALUATION:

2. APPEALING TO THE MALE AUDIENCE:
I think that my media product would appeal to a mass audience both
male and female. However, in terms of appealing to the male
audience, they would enjoy this product as they would aspire to and
identify with the respect and power that the father, the male
protagonist, holds. I believe that this form of identification is built
on his clean-cut, suit and tie appearance and fast car as well as
empathising with the father and “rooting for him”. The masculine
ruthlessness and emotional resilience which the father character
exhibits throughout the film opening makes him the perfect person
which the male audience want to see succeed.

3. APPEALING TO THE FEMALE AUDIENCE:
For females, they are attracted to film due to its incorporation of
the classic gentlemanly perception of the protagonist seeking to
protect the female in danger. By using ‘Female Gaze’ we were able
to make the shots appeal more the female audience by focusing on
the father’s appearance and power. Furthermore, the female viewer
will empathise with the daughter’s situation and personally identify
with the fear and danger which her positions entails. I also think that
the father is a desirable character and overall role model being a
man which men aspire to be like and women want to be with.

4. ASSESSING OUR TARGET AUDIENCE:
As the ‘Switch’ storyline progresses the storyline becomes
increasingly dark and violent. The messages encoded into the film
are hard-hitting and adult. Therefore, with this in mind our target
audience is aimed at people who are aged 15 to around 60. Using
the sociodemographic scale, I think that the target audience for our
film ranges from A to C2. I have chosen classes A and B because
these are people from a wealthier background whom may be able to
relate their own lifestyle to the one that is portrayed in the film,
which is one of power, excess and luxury. Referencing Blumier and
Katz’s gratification theory, these people receive the gratification of
identification and receive pleasure from Maslow’s self-actualisation,
as they recognise expensive fashion and cars, which they commonly
wear and drive themselves on a day to day basis.

5. ASSESSING OUR TARGET AUDIENCE CONTINUED:
I also chose C1 and C2 but for very different, contrasting reasons.
People located in these two brackets aspire to be a person with
status and power as well as having the luxury items of fast cars and
high fashion. They receive the gratification of escapism from the
reality that they are faced with most days, which may not be as
necessarily as stylish as the lifestyle shown in the film and much
more physically demanding (labourers for example). Escapism is
extremely important to the media industry and a main reason why
people watch films, as it allows a section of the population to find
release from their repetitive and dull lifestyles that they may not feel
fulfilled with. Despite the film only lasting a couple of hours, they
are immersed in a completely different and new lifestyle which I
think could even inspire the viewer to be more ambitious and
achieve a greater, more luxurious lifestyle for themselves.

6. APPEALING TO RIGHT SOCIAL CLASSES:
I believe that people located in classes lower that C2 would not be a
suitable audience for this media product due to its in-depth
messages encoded throughout the film, diverse emotional context
and overall intellectual nature. I think that ‘Switch’ requires a more
intellectually able and engage viewer to keep up with and
understand the underlying messages throughout which build on the
plot, camerawork and editing, enabling the audience to feel more
involved in the overall storyline.

7. RICHARD DYER’S UTOPIAN SOLUTIONS:
Richard Dyer states that people will respond to a media text if it
offers them compensation for the inadequacies in their own lives. In
relation to our own film, we believe that our film appeals to the
explorer and aspirer detailed in his utopian solutions. The explorer
seeks challenge, adventure new frontiers and sensations, I think our
film appeals to that viewer due to its various locations both urban
and in the countryside. Conversely, the aspirer is materialistic and
cares about their image, appearance and fashion. I think that our
film appeals to this audience due to mise-en-scène such as the
Ferrari and the designer suit that we have incorporated into our film
opening.

8. After we established our audience, were used a number of
techniques to ensure that the target audience were engaged in the
way that we wanted them to be. Some examples of these
techniques included camerawork used when trying to make the male
protagonist appeal to the female audience. For example, at the
beginning when the father is standing outside the Ferrari, a low
angle tracking upwards shot is used, in order to incorporate Laura
Mulvey’s Female Gaze mentioned earlier. The theory is based on the
way in which camerawork has been modernised and altered to
objectify men in the same manner women have been objectified in
for since films began. This tracking shot shows the father in an
attractive manner to women without emasculating the male viewer
to the point at which they feel uncomfortable when watching it.
TECHNIQUES USED TO ATTRACT OUR TARGET AUDIENCE:

9. We also used mise-en-scène as a technique to attract our target
audience. A close up shot is used for example which shows the
iconic ‘Ferrari’ logo. This shot can be considered to be intertextual
as the audience located in A and B are able to identify and relate to
the luxury car brand. It’s subtle size and unlabelled appearance may
seem ambitious to many viewers, however appeals to the upper
class viewers who appreciate subtlety and creates a community
within them (Maslow’s need for social interaction).
TECHNIQUES CONTINUED: