This document discusses the target audience for a thriller film media product. Research was conducted into similar thriller films which ranged from age 12A to 18 ratings. Questionnaires found that males aged 15-25 and 26-40 most enjoyed the thriller genre. Interviews with people aged 16-40 provided feedback that younger audiences enjoyed the opening sequence most. The target audience was identified as men aged 15-40 to appeal to both younger and older male audiences. The film will use an older protagonist and younger antagonists to satisfy both parts of the target demographic.

1. Who would be the audience for your media product?

2. Film Certification
 My film certification is going to be aged 15
and above because if I were to carry on my
opening sequence, there would likely be
strong language, threat, drug use and
definitely lots of violence which would not
be suitable for anyone under the age of 15.
Although there isn’t much threat or violence
currently in my opening sequence, we
would be sure to include more as the film
progresses and that is why it should be
certified as 15.

3. Research into similar products
 I researched 5 thriller films that ranged from 12a
(Inception) to 18 (fight club). Because of the intense
nature of thriller films, it would be unlikely that they would
be certified as anything below a 12a. After researching
these examples and watching them too, I understand
more clearly why different types of thriller films have
different age ratings depending on some of the content
shown in the film. After reviewing these 5 thriller films and
their age certificates, I have decided to keep the age
certificate of my product as 15 because although there
would be lots of violence and threat, I don’t think there
would have been enough for it to be an 18.

4. Questionnaires
 One of the questions that we asked was
“what gender and age group would the
thriller genre appeal to the most?” After
collecting all of the data, we found that
the two highest responses were males
aged 15-25 and males aged 26-40. This
influenced our decision on who should
be our target audience massively.

5. Interviews
 As well as doing questionnaires, I also interviewed three
people to see what they thought of my product. I
interviewed a male and a female both aged 16 and also
an older female aged between 30-40. Although the older
female said she thought my product looked professional
and was well filmed, she said that it wasn’t her type of film
as she is not that interested in thriller films and prefers
other genres such as romance and comedy.
 On the other hand, both of the younger target audience
members said they enjoyed the opening sequence and
would love to see more of it.
 This information is very valuable because it suggests that
my film will appeal to a young target audience well and
that I should also focus on the audience of men rather
than women because stereotypically, this genre will
appeal to a male target audience more.

6. Facebook Profile
 I have decided to create a Facebook
profile for a typical audience member
that would be likely to view my film. You
can see this on the following slide.

7. Name: Chris Anderson
Age:30
From: London
Favourite movie genres?
Action Adventure/ Thriller
Hobbies/ Interests?
Going to the gym, cycling, watching
Netflix, going to the cinema
Quick questions
Favourite Thriller Film?
Fight Club
Favourite Actor?
Bradley Cooper
A bit about you…
My name is Chris
and I live in
Camden, London.
I enjoy keeping
active however I
often like to relax
by watching films.
I can’t stand
horror films but I’ll
watch anything
with a bit of
suspense and
action! I’ve
already booked
my tickets for the
new fast and
furious film which
I'm going to see
this weekend. I
can’t wait!
Steve Hill
James Smith
Dave Stubbs
Phil Hunt
Bradley Cooper
Matt Damon
Fast and Furious
Universal Studios

8. Conclusion
 In conclusion, my target audience will be men
aged 15-40 years old. The reason we have chosen
such a broad age range is because we want our
product to appeal to an older target audience as
well as the traditional younger male target
audience that thriller films often suit. In order to
satisfy both the older and younger parts of our
target audience, we have used an older
protagonist and younger kidnappers. This
juxtaposes the usual stereotype that thriller films
have to have middle aged men as their
protagonists and antagonists which is what will
make our product stand out from the rest and
become successful.