The document discusses the target audience and concepts considered for a media product. The target audience is males aged 18-29. The genres used are psychological horror and slasher. The concepts include a school setting, a bullied antagonist seeking revenge, and an Australian protagonist in an unfamiliar British culture. The tone aims for suspense over shock. The protagonist is relatable to draw in the audience. Schools provide a sense of safety that the film removes. Additional elements exploit emotions like fear, revenge, and parental concern for their children's safety. Special interests include journalism and ghost-hunting. The source material is Paranormal Activity for its found footage style and low budget success.

1. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE
FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

2.  The target audience plays a big role in the
creation of a film: it is who the film will
ultimately be aimed at, and this audience
must be defined and catered for if the movie
is to be a success.

3. Example:
Paranormal activity:
- Average age: 18-29
- Average rating (corresponding to stated
average age): 6.6/10
- Main target: The vast majority of the audience
is male and aged 18-29 (which covers the vast
majority of the mainstream audience).

4. Which concepts did you
consider in order to appeal
to the audience?

5.  There are a number of concepts that must be
covered in order to fulfil the audience criteria:
Genre, Concept, Tone, Attractiveness of the
protagonist to the audience, Subject
matter, Additional elements, Special interests, and
Source material.
 In addition to this, other factors may be
considered, such as audience age, class, social
status, etc.
 Our movie relates to the concepts and a variety of
factors in the following ways:

6. Genre:
 Horror; further defined as ‘psychological’. Horror was the
mandatory genre that we had to use, however, we chose
psychological because it was realistic and therefore
audiences can relate to it (see graph below).
20
15
10
5
0
Slasher Psychological Demonic Apocalyptic

7. Concept:
 The concept we chose related to school and
students within a school. The idea was that
school is a safe place to be, therefore unsettles
audiences at the point with which it removes this
safety aspect. In addition to this, the Antagonist
is mentioned to have been bullied, and is now
‘wreaking havoc’. Also, the actor’s accent was
Australian. This brings about the sense of
somebody perhaps being in a place that they
would not normally be found in (for example, an
Australian actor in a British film).

8. Tone:
 The tone we aimed to create was not intense
or to induce shock (shock factor), but was to
generate the sense of suspense: the tone
becomes much less light-hearted, despite
starting as a light-hearted piece (with the
actor being portrayed as a student that shows
confidence.

9. Attractiveness of the protagonist to
the audience:
 The protagonist in our piece was the student
‘Bruce’. He is a student that currently studies
at a school (known as ‘Delwood high’). He is
an attractive protagonist because he is very
down to earth and therefore very easy to
relate to. He also exploits fear, which is an
emotion easily to relate to, which is a
portrayal of a typically ‘human’ characteristic.

10. Subject matter:
 The subject matter in our piece was a student
that investigates a school that is supposedly
‘haunted’. We chose this concept for a
number of reasons: the first reason was that
schools are generally associated with safety; a
second reason was that ‘ghosts’ and
‘psychological’ horror both link within the
movie opening.

11. Additional elements:
- A bullied child attacks a harmless, curious student: this is an
exploitation of revenge, which addresses bullying in a way that
audiences may be able to associate with (in regards to the revenge
aspect).
- The cultural reference of a typical Australian-named character:
Australians are stereotypically confident, and this show of confidence
may portray a ‘lack of knowledge’ to being set in a ‘foreign’ British
culture, which is a show of weakness (with which the audience can
relate to
- With the piece being in a school, it is possible to assume that older
audiences may use the model of Bruce to exploit their feelings for
their son/daughter that may also be in school: this generates a fear
for them, as they have the potential to associate what happens to
Bruce with what could potentially happen to their child.

12. Special interests:
 Journalism is a popular past time, and is the
apparent ‘special interest’ within the film. This
special interest may entice audiences such as
young students that show an interest in
journalism. There is also a large element of
investigation (moreover, ghost-hunting) within
the film. This can appeal to older audiences that
may have an interest for ‘adventure’, but more
likely to be appealing to an older audience; those
that reminisce about their childhood (and
therefore being stereotypically reckless).

13. Source Material:
 Our film was based on the film ‘Paranormal Activity’, which
demonstrated the horrors of ‘demons’ and, like our
film, uses hand-camera work to portray a more ‘humanly’
approach (much like the audience are experiencing it first-
hand). Despite not being rated extremely high, the film itself
was a huge success (It cost just $15,000 to make, but
grossed $67million within the first weekend). Our film
relates to this, as this project is made by students, and
therefore does not carry out a large budget. In addition to
this, audiences are likely to watch TV programs such as
‘Most Haunted’, which is a popular TV show with which real-
life people visit real-life areas to discover what they class as
“paranormal activity”.