1. Who would be the audience for your media product?
2. Who would be the audience for my media product? I found out who my audience would be by conducting a questionnaire that I gave out to several different age groups. This questionnaire allowed me to identify that the audience for my media product would probably be middle-class people in their 30’s and 40’s as this particular social group prefer more hard-hitting, true to real life dramas compared to younger people, especially working-class younger people who prefer more unrealistic, glamorised Hollywood films to escape the pressures of everyday working life.
3. “Out of these films which have you seen?” I discovered this by asking the question “Out of these films which have you seen?” and then listing several social realism films; from this 20% of the people asked had seen ‘The Full Monty’ and ‘Billy Elliott’ with the next most watched films being ‘Kidulthood’ with 17% and ‘This Is England’ having been watched by 15% of people.
4. “Are you male or female?” & “How old are you?” I was also able to find out which age and gender were watching social realism films as I also asked the simple questions “Are you male or female?” and “How old are you?”, from asking these simple questions I was able to deduce who the main audience for my film would be as I was able to look at their age and gender and see what social realism films they had seen and if so what ones.
5. “What do you understand by the term social realism?” I also asked the question “What do you understand by the term social realism?” as this also enabled me to understand what age had a good idea of the genre and so therefore would be more likely to have watched social realism and also possibly be more inclined to watch it; for this question I got a variety of responses with some people saying “I understand the term social realism to be a genre in which the story and plot are based on true life stories,” to more accurate answers such as “Social realism is based on the problems and issues that we have to deal with in everyday life.”
6. Secondary Audience Although my main audience would be middle-class people in their 30’s and 40’s my media product features working-class, younger people in their 20’s so this could persuade them to watch my film.
7. Nationality of Audience My audience will also be mainly British as my film will only be released in the UK due to the credit crunch and the character’s regional identity of being British.
8. Who would I like my film to be watched by? I would like my film to be watched by women, especially women who have been or are in an abusive relationship as they may be able to relate to my film and find some kind of comfort or solace in it. The aim of my media product is also to alert the public to a very real and dangerous issue and to hopefully raise awareness of this subject as well as to provide some kind of comfort with sufferers of domestic violence.
10. How did you attract/address your audience? I attracted my audience through the use of camera and also by looking at my audience research and seeing which would be the best way to advertise and also maybe screen my film.
11. Audience Tastes/Preferences I found out what attracted my audience by asking about their tastes and preferences in my audience research; examples of questions I asked which informed me of their tastes and preferences included “What is your first opinion on my chosen topic?”, “How do you feel about the topic in my introduction?” and “What other issues and themes would you like to see within a social realism film and why?”
12. Audience Tastes/Preferences The answers I received back for these questions included “…it is a good topic that should be covered” however it should be covered “…carefully” and “…sensitively” and “I would like to see bullying, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy within a social realism film.” I satisfied these tastes and preferences by going ahead with my chosen topic but handling the issue delicately and incorporating the theme of bullying into my intro, as you see my male character mentally bullying my female protagonist.
13. What technical elements did I use to attract my audience? I attracted my audience through the technical element of camera by beginning my film with a series of extreme close-up shots of different parts of my protagonists face including a black eye and a bruised lip; in doing this my audience automatically begin to wonder who this character is and what has happened to her, therefore intriguing them and making them want to watch the rest of the film. I know this as I asked my audience “What do you think of the use of close-ups in my intro?” when shown the rough cut of my film; to which they replied with responses such as “They’re effective, they make me want to know more about her and how she got those bruises.”
14. What technical elements did I use to attract my audience? I also showed a series of close-ups of a man’s hands making a cup of tea and then holding onto some banisters as he goes upstairs; the audience never see this man’s face so have no clue what he looks like, this makes them wonder who he is. I chose not to show this character’s face and just show his hands so that the audience subconsciously know that this must be the girl’s abuser as his hands are what created the bruises we saw moments ago; and so the audience can decide what he looks like for themselves in the beginning of the film.
15. Audience Issues At the end of my two minute introduction both my female and male character are in the same room with the male character mentally abusing my female protagonist; this came as somewhat of a disappointment to some of my audience as they expected more drama such as physical violence; however I didn’t want to make my film too hard-hitting at the beginning as I didn’t want to scare my audience too soon, this also helps make my film true to life as not all domestic abuse is physical violence.
16. Themes & Issues The issue in my film addresses a part of society that is not often discussed or talked about in public and so therefore my intro shows this problem within our society and helps to connect victims of domestic violence and abuse with the public. I discovered this after asking my audience the question “How do you feel towards my protagonist (the female character) and her issue?” to which I received responses such as I sympathise with her” and “…I am now more aware of her issue and the seriousness of domestic violence.”
17. Where will my film be screened? I also attracted my audience by looking at the audience research I had conducted and noticing that the Internet was becoming a more and more popular place to watch and advertise films. Using the Internet would be a good place to show and advertise my film as many people can access it and it’s much cheaper to advertise and screen than in a cinema or on TV.
