The document discusses target audiences for a psychological horror opening sequence. The target audience is identified as males and females aged 15-30 who are interested in psychological topics. The opening sequence establishes a psychotic clown character by showing his disturbing childhood and him preparing to target his victim. It uses conventions like flashbacks and a realistic setting to engage audiences. The sequence aims to appeal to a mass audience by portraying a psychological condition that could affect anyone. It creates mystery and enigma to provide audience pleasure, in line with genre expectations.
2. Audience
• An audience is when you have a range of people which are typically the main
people who you are targeting your product towards.
• They are people who are first going to consume your product, then they tend
to give you feedback for improvements.
• With these improvements, they tend to help enhance your work for a better
outcome the second time you do it.
3. Audience expectations of the psychological
horror genre
We have chose to do the genre psychological horror.
Generally the audience would expect to see:
• A character with some sort of psychological problem
• An enigma code in order to engage the audience and to link to the character
• It set in a realistic setting such as a school, house or hospital
• Some type of story linking to the fear of the character
• A person facing some sort of problem
4. Audience expectations for psychological horror opening
sequence
Generally the audience would expect to se the following things listed below.
• They would expect to see lots of confusion in order to create the high amounts of enigma codes.
• They would also expect there to be some kind of suspense towards the ending, so that they can stay
engaged.
• There usually tends to be odd or strange things going on in their surroundings.
• The characters can be in an isolated place or a common place to create the sense of realism.
• Establish the main character from the beginning.
• For there to be hints throughout the opening sequence to keep the audience engaged the whole time.
5. Mass or Niche
Our opening sequence is going to be targeted at a mass audience
because it has links to be a blockbuster movie because of all the
conventions included. Also because the psychological conditions
that our character has can start at a young age which we show, so it
could happen at any other age. This makes it more relatable for a
bigger audience.
6. What is a target and secondary audience?
Target audience:
A target audience is the
audience that you are
intentionally making the
product and they are the first
group that you think about
when creating your product.
They are the ones that you
know they will bring you
success because you would
have studied what they want
and so you know that they will
want your product.
Secondary audience:
The secondary audience are the
audience that you didn't initially
think off whilst making your
product, however they will still
want to consume it even though
you didn't study about them and
did not think of them first when
creating your product. They are
anyone who is not in your target
audience.
7. Target audience details
Description Explanation
Gender Both males and
females
The genre psychological horror can appeal to both genders and also effect both.
Age 15-30 The age limit starts at 15 because children under that age can still be sensitive. This age
range is also where most of the interests start.
Location Local If it is successful locally first, then it is easier to expand without there being a risk.
Social class Routine occupants
to intermediates
They are the ones to most likely watch it because they have some free time on their
hands, whereas the upper class might be working or on holiday all the time, so won't
get a chance to see it.
Interests/hobbies Interested in
psychological things
If they have a general interest, then they will most likely go and watch the film as it will
also add to their own knowledge.
Social Group Peers who share the
same interest and
films they enjoy
Word of mouth nowadays tends to be a fats way of quick 'advertising', so if they share
the same interests, then it's could help with popularity.
Profession/Role Teachers, students,
psychiatrists and
doctors.
They tend to be the ones most interested, so it would be easier to engage them in the
film.
Sexuality All types Anyone could be interested or affected regardless of their sexuality.
8. Description Explanation
Gender Both males and
females
Any gender is welcome to watch our opening sequence.
Age 30-55 At that age, it could still interest them as they have more life experiences, however not
too old as it can cause distress.
Location Global Any audience are welcome to help make the film global and to help it succeed to a
much wider audience.
Social class All types If they are able to watch it and are interested then they are welcome to.
Interests/hobbies Does not apply Audiences with other interests could find the film interesting even though it's not
usually what they go for.
Social Group Open range Any social group can be talking about this film and it can apply to anyone, so they can
watch it if they feel they can relate.
Profession/Role Open range Any profession could be interested regardless of what they professionally do.
Sexuality Doesn't apply It's is an open range to anyone.
Secondary audience details
9. How does your opening sequence appeal to your target audience?
Plot/story/Theme Forms Conventions
There is a psychotic clown who is standing outside a
house and is waiting for the girl to come to him. We
see his past when he was a young boy, torturing a
clown doll as if it was, in a way, disturbing his sleep.
(the clown doll will be the biggest enigma code as we
see it lying in the bushes at the end). We see him
then putting on his clown makeup, ready for his
victim.
CAM SAMC:
• Close ups
• Over the shoulder
• Two shots
• POV
• 180 degree rule
• Setting
• Mid shot
• Non diegetic music
• The clown has a psychological
problem that started from his child
hood, which is a main convention in
psychological horror.
• It is set mainly in parts of a house,
which gives it a sense of realism.
• There are flashbacks to the clowns
past, so you can make more sense
of why he is disturbed now as an
adult.
10. BBFC Ratings
Ratings Chosen rating for opening sequence Comments from guidelines
U
PG
12A
12
15 X Any of the following can be shown:
strong violence
frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
portrayals of sexual activity
strong verbal references to sex
sexual nudity
brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal
references to sexual violence
discriminatory language or behaviour
drug taking
18
11. Applying audience theory
Altman
'A set of pleasures'
The opening sequence is
giving audience pleasure
by creating mystery and a
lot of enigma. This makes
the audience feel the
satisfaction of wanting to
find out more like what is
going to happen, and why
it is happening.
Tudor
'Genre is what we collectively
believe it to be'
We only understand that it is a
psychological horror because
of how we see the clowns
childhood and how the clown
is behaving as a grown up.
They can also make
connections between the
clown doll and why he
imitated it.