- The target audience for the media product is 15-19 year old teenage girls - This age group and gender made up most of the respondents to the questionnaire and the themes of cyberbullying and stalking in the thriller would appeal to and be relevant for them - While most respondents preferred a male protagonist, the authors decided to feature a female protagonist to challenge stereotypes and appeal more to female viewers who want to see strong, independent female characters they can relate to

1. Evaluation Question 4:
• Who will your audience be for your media product?
• How will you appeal to your chosen audience?

2. AGE:In order to come to the conclusion of which age group to target for our thriller
opening to we needed to conduct some research. We therefore had decided to
create a questionnaire which we gave out to the public in order to understand their
preferences which we could therefore incorporate within our thriller opening. By
looking at the diagram on the left, it is clear that 56% of the participants which
contributed in the questionnaire were between the ages of 15-19. This initially gave
us a clear indication that we should aim our thriller opening to this age group
however, after analysing our thriller opening we later were left unsure. We instead
started to debate the idea of making the target audience lower and aiming it at
people of the ages of 12 and above. This is as by conducting research about the BFFC
which is known as the British Board of Film and Classification, we were made aware
of the criteria of each movie rating. I found out that for a film to be classified as an
'18' it would need to contain strong themes of sexual violence, sexual activity or drug
abuse. None of these themes however were present within our thriller opening,
although the theme of stalking was present within our thriller opening, no physical
violence or death had taken place. We realised that this rating would not be suitable
for our thriller opening therefore we decided to decrease it. On the other hand, for a
film to be rated '15' it would need it potentially contain strong violence, sexual nudity
and bad language constantly throughout. However, we believe that this criterion also
does not fully match our thriller opening as our thriller opening does not contain any
terms of violence, sexual nudity or feature any profanity. However, it does contain
mature themes such as the topic of cyber bullying and stalking which can be seen as
inappropriate or distressing for younger viewers. As we were left unsure of which age
to target, we conducted some further research on different thrillers films which were
similar to ours and which age rating they had. We particularly looked at 'The Black
Swan' and 'Unfriended' as they both shared a similar plot to our thriller opening and
had found out that both thrillers were rated '15' due to the mature themes which
they featured. Although 'Unfriended' and ' The Black Swan' feature considerably
more violence than our thriller opening we decided that it would be suitable in order
to also make our target audience this age group. Firstly, this is as within our
questionnaire research the were no participants which were under the ages of 15,
therefore we were not fully aware of what this age group seeks within a thriller.
Secondly, the central themes which are present within this movie such as
cyberbullying and stalking are a common threat which young teenagers face today
and would be deemed inappropriate for the younger generation. Our thriller will
therefore make teenagers aware of the dangers of cyberbullying and the
repercussions for taking part in such actions. We believe by making our thriller
relatable to this target audience it will encourage them to watch it.

3. Gender:We also focused on a certain gender which or target audience appealed to. As the data
in the right conveys of the right suggests, 53% of the participants which took part in
the questionnaire were female and 47% male. This automatically was seen as a
positive to us as initially we set out to target females; this is as we wanted to challenge
the stereotypes which they hold within media today by casting the main character as a
female. By looking at the pie chart underneath however it clearly suggests that 80% of
the participants prefer a male protagonist rather than a female. Within media it is very
common for the main protagonists to be a strong, independent male which has
become the norm. This is evident through our research as although 53% of the
participants which took place within our questionnaire, the majority of them would
prefer a male protagonist rather than a female. We as a group however have decided
to tackle this common theme and instead feature a female to be the main protagonist.
Although this idea does not correspond with our data, we believe that by subverting
the stereotype and featuring a strong, independent, powerful female, women would
be drawn to our thriller. This is by doing some research we had found that females like
to relate to characters which hold strong characteristics such as being independent
and a survivor, this therefore allows them form a loyalty with this character
throughout the film. Our thriller film isn't particularly targeted at men which is evident
through our research as only 20% of men participated within our questionnaire
research. As more females participated, we are made more aware of what they are
seeking within a thriller rather than what men seek. I personally believe that males
would disregard our thriller and would not enjoy it as doesn't feature any male
characters except for the brief notion of a male called 'Max'. Research shows that men
enjoy being in power and by seeing a male protagonist dominating females on screen,
gives them a sense of superiority. However, as our thriller opening focuses on an
independent female protagonist, this will immediately be unappealing to males as
they will assume that it is 'just another chick flick' and not a thriller to be taken
seriously. As the data on the left conveys, the age group of the majority of participants
within the questionnaire are between the ages of 15-19. By combining the data of the
age and gender of the participant it clearly shows that our target audience particularly
is teenage girls. This is significant in order to attract our audience as Mary, the main
character, is also a young teenage girl. Through the use of props, dialogue and
costume we made Mary a relatable character to the female teenage audience. For
example, the props used within Mary's bedroom such as the makeup, jewellery boxes
and ornaments it in some ways represents Mary as a typical, fashionable teenage girl.
Mary and Maya are introduced to the scene by gossiping about the day’s event which
is seen as a typical teenage thing to do. This is important as the similarities between
the target audience and the main character allow the audience to relate to the
hardships which Mary faces and positively look up to her.

4. Casting of characters:Within our thriller opening we do not feature any
Caucasian cast, however instead an ethnic minority
such as Asians.
By featuring two Asian cast members to star within
our thriller opening helped appeal to our target
audience. This is as traditionally within films Indians or
Pakistanis are not featured much within films however
when they are, they are either seen as uncool or a
sidekick. However, within our thriller opening we have
portrayed them in a positive light as our main
character is seen as strong, popular and wealthy rather
than uncool or unattractive. This helps attract our
audience as I believe people of this ethnicity will be
more attracted to it as it differs from traditional
thrillers which makes our thriller unique, it also will
give them a sense of loyalty or alliance with the
character.
Thriller movies within media today have very repetitive
storylines and teenagers often become bored however
by making our casting original it will allow the audience
to watch something new. Also as teenagers are very
impersonal and are used to seeing the
misrepresentations of these casts on TV, they are able
to see a different and more positive side.

5. Conclusion
Overall, as you can see we faced a lot of challenges when coming to decide which rating our thriller
opening should be. However, after conducting a lot of research and much deliberation we came to
conclusion that our target audience will be aimed at 15-19 year olds.
Although our target audience would prefer thrillers to feature a male protagonist I believe that by
featuring a female protagonist instead, it will be more attractive to the audience. This is as they are
not used to it and females enjoy watching and encouraging other strong females. Overall, I believe
that we have done well in terms of meeting the needs of our target audience as not only are we
incorporating what they seek within a thriller, however also made it diverse and original by
featuring minorities.