How did you attract/address your audience?

1. Question 5
How did you attract/address your
audience?
Sarah Batty

2. Genre
 My intended audience is both male and female young adults, aged between 15 to 20. Because of this, my film needed
to be something that this audience would enjoy watching. As shown in popular existing products, genres which are
currently appealing to my target audience include (but aren't limited to) horror and dystopian future/alternative reality.
Horror has been made popular by productions such as 'the walking dead' and 'American Horror Story', and dystopian
futures have been made popular by productions such as, 'The Hunger Games' and 'The 100'.
 I made my own questionnaire before starting production of my film, and from the feedback I received, the most
popular genre was horror. This reinforced the idea of making a film with elements of horror, as this would ensure that
people would actually watch my film.
 I feel that my film caters to my intended audience as it features elements of both the horror genre and dystopian
futures, due to the fact that there is a zombie and some sort of 'virus' plaguing the U.K.

3. Characters
 As hinted at in my film opening, both of the characters shown are female. This is portrayed through
the clothes they are wearing, which are rather fashionable amongst my target audience. I tried to
make the characters look as relatable as possible to what my target audience would look like, to
gain a sense of closeness to the characters, even though they haven't been formally introduced yet.
 Just from viewing the film opening, there has been no introduction of male characters, but I still feel
that male members of the audience would enjoy the film as they would still be around the same
age and may have similar world views and opinions as the female characters in the film opening.
Also, from the actors names which appear throughout my video, there is mention of male actors
which would indicate male characters in the rest of the film. The audience would have to continue
watching to see just what other characters appear throughout the film.

4. Narrative
 Within the narrative of my film opening, there are many enigma codes which would attract the audience. Firstly, the identities of the characters aren't
revealed in the opening to this film, so the audience may be wondering who these people are and what significance they play in the film. The
character of the zombie also creates an enigma, as it is unknown as to how they came to be like that.
 Through the use of mise-en-scene, the audience is given a clue about what is going on when a newspaper article comes into the shot, and this reveals
that there has been some sort of 'virus' taking over the country. This is the only detail so far about the virus, and this may make the audience
intrigued and grab their attention so they watch the rest of the film.
 There is also the enigma surrounding the 'unknown person' who has been kept hostage. The audience does not know what has happened to this
person for them to be restrained and tied to a tree. The rope used to restrain the hostage is another use of mise-en-scene, as this prop is vital to the
narrative. Without it, it would be difficult to create the illusion of someone being held captive.
 The final enigma that my audience may have noticed is the fact that a zombie is bringing food to a hostage. This unusual situation does not give any
answers in the opening to the film, and so this indicates that the audience should continue watching in order for them to understand just what is
going on.
 Enigma codes are designed to keep an audience entertained and attracted to the production they are viewing, and this is the primary reason why I
included enigma codes in my film opening.

5. Sound
 I think the use of sound has successfully helped me to attract the audience and keep them engaged
throughout the film opening.
 At the beginning, the music is peaceful and calm, and birds can be heard in the background, but as
a thicker string section develops, the audience knows that something is about to happen. When the
music takes a turning point, and sounds suspenseful, the characters meet and an exchange
happens.
 From this point, the enigma surrounding the motive of the zombie occurs, thus engaging the
audience into processing this enigma in their heads whilst watching the remainder of the film
opening.

6. Editing and camerawork
 I think I have succeeded in attracting my audience through the use of editing. I intended for my
editing technique to show both of the characters at the same time, leading to them meeting. This
'back and forth' technique was done to keep the audience watching and to attract them without
boring them at the start of the film. If I had a boring film opening, my potential audience may not
have wanted to watch the rest of the film, as their expectations will have been lowered from the
introduction.
 I also intended to attract my audience through the use of my camerawork. Throughout the film
opening, the angles are low, except for the first shot, which is a brief high establishing shot of the
trees in the woodland area. The reason I chose to have the majority of my camera angles rather low
is to create a sense of mystery. The audience do not know what my characters faces look like yet,
making them anonymous until their identities are revealed later on in the film.