The document discusses the target audience and how to attract audience for a horror film media product. The target audience is identified as ages 15-60, targeting both younger (15-25) and older (26-60+) viewers. Younger viewers are suggested to attract through easily entertaining plots and graphic scenes, while older viewers may enjoy nostalgia and evaluating remakes. Social media and film genres are identified as other media consumed. An opening scene is created and tested on a sample audience via questionnaire. Audience feedback indicates expectations were met and the scene successfully targeted a wide age range as intended.

1. Questions 4 & 5
Who would be the audience for your media
product?
How did you attract/address your audience?
Aaron Cogdell

2. • Horror films attract and captivate a variety of ages due to
the adrenaline rush an thrill seeking events that occur in
almost all modern horror films.
• The audience for my media product would be within the
age range of 15-60. This is due to the simple, but
captivating plots that are easy for people of any age to
enjoy and thrill seek to escape from every day life.

3. • Firstly, the younger end of my target audience (15-25). My age range
starts at 15 due to the age rating on horror films as 15 is the youngest age
to legally watch a horror and they will often watch horror films with a group
of friends to unlock a sense of thrill and perhaps even act older than they
are. The 18-25 year old section are at that ‘young adult’, thrill seeking age
to experiment with things and gain experience in life. This age range (15-
25) is the easiest to accommodate for, this is because they are easily
entertained by film, and have minimal experience in the film industry so
will tend to watch any film that ‘looks good’ or is popular at the time. They
are also not ‘put off’ by graphic scenes such as murder, torture,
kidnapping as they do not have this experience in life yet and try to act
with a sense of maturity.
• In addition to the age, the gender for this age range is also equally
targeted at as horrors target males and/or females. This is because young
males and females will be thrill seekers and are both a key stage in life
where by they developing themselves as characters, experimenting with
emotions and will tend to ‘rush into things’ especially due to peer
pressure.- This picture is what I believe the ‘typical’ audience member
of this age range to look like. I would expect the average
audience member of this age to have a ‘modern’ hairstyle,
wear the latest fashion clothing and looking like a full or part-
time student.

4. • These two pictures are what I believe the ‘typical’
audience member of this age range (male and female) to
look like. I would expect the average audience member
of this age to have a ‘modern’ hairstyle, wear the latest
fashion clothing and looking like a full or part-time
student.

5. • I believe the older and of the target audience (26-60) to be a ‘hit or miss’
section. This is because as people get older, they have experienced
more throughout their lives and begin to form opinions and feelings
about certain situations, some that may even be personal to a viewer
that are re-created in a film. They are an equally suited audience as
there is nothing to say that as you get older, you wont enjoy a
graphic/thrill seeking film as many ‘older’ people will still want to get
away from the every day life and reality and even make themselves feel
young again. They may also remember some of the first, and true
classic horror films (depending on how old they are) and will want to
watch any remakes or similar films to see how the media has
developed. I believe that there is no limit for the age of somebody
targeted to watch as really, it is open for anybody at any age to watch a
horror film.
• However, I believe that horror films are mainly targeted at males for this
age range. This is because, stereotypically, males tend to be the
stronger characters and can cope with the modern
‘graphic/uncomfortable scenes’. This is not standardised across the
whole target market but is more of an ‘assumption’.

6. • Again, these two pictures are my
personal creations of a ‘typical’,
male and female audience
member for the age range 26-
60+. I would expect both
characters to wear a more
sophisticated style of clothing
and look more mature and adult-
like and increasingly so as they
age. They will look to be in full
time employment, with the
possibility of children, and of
course as they age, entering the
retirement age, where minimal
changes such as clothing and
accessories change.

7. • Horror films are aimed at a ‘working class community’
due to ‘low cost’ of watching a horror film. This means
that horrors are easily accessible to people of any class
and more specifically catered for the people in the ‘lower
classes’. They are also aimed a ‘lower class’ due to the
stereotypical ‘lower intelligence’ that people of that class
are grouped to have. Therefore, the cheap, simple and
‘random’ horror films are aimed at this group of people.
• That doesn’t mean to say that people in a higher class
will not watch horrors, but they would most likely be
watching a sub-genre film such as horror with romance or
action for example. This is largely due to the extra
satisfaction that people in the ‘higher class’ seek from a
film.

8. • Horror films tend to be targeted at a grouped audience,
like a group of friends or a couple. I believe this to be
because of their ‘scary/uncomfortable’ nature that people
need a sense of comfort and ‘protection’ when watching a
horror film and this demonstrates how influential and
powerful some horror films can really be. Romantic
couples are also a common audience group to watch a
horror film again for the sense of comfort and even
dominance (usually from the male).

9. • Younger audience: (15-25)
I believe that the younger target audience for horror films consume
other forms of media such as film genres including action, adventure,
sci-fi, thriller, rom-com’s etc. and will also be heavily involved in social
media. Although, nowadays they are ‘sucked in’ to social media I would
expect them to have hobbies and interests in sports, gaming and music
and would spend their time either in education or employment and
socialising when free time is available.
• Older Audience: (26-60+)
For the older audience of the target market, I would estimate that they
would also be as interested in a range of film genres as above, but their
interests and time-spending will be different. I would predict that they
would not be as ‘involved’ with social media and would have different
interests. These would include activities such as photography,
construction, painting, reading, design and leisurely sports & exercise
and would be at the stage in their lives where their time would be
devoted to work and then retirement and the free will of spending time.

10. • I attracted my audience, purely through the accurate and
effective use of the key conventions, often seen in top,
successful modern horror films. Using ‘dark, isolated scenes’,
‘disturbing sound effects’, and ‘climax’s of suspense’ I was
able to attract the desired viewers.
• My ‘mode of address’ was to include as many conventions as
seen in successful horror films and make it look as
professional as possible.
• Following, is a questionnaire that I created for audience
members, of various ages and genders that viewed my
opening scene. The questionnaire was designed to ask the
audience members what attracted them to watch my media
product and whether it met their expectations and satisfy their
needs.
* The questionnaire was completed via computer for each
member.

11. • My audience members expected and wanted to see
similar elements in horror films. They expected to see:
Male – 50 yrs
Female– 43
yrs
Male – 15 yrs
Female – 17 yrs

12. • They also believed that their expectations were met by
my opening scene

13. • And felt as if they were part of the target audience and
estimated that people of a variety of ages would also be
attracted to a similar media product.

14. • In conclusion I believe that I have accurately and successfully
attracted and appealed to my target audience with my media
product. As I stated at the beginning, my mode of address was
to pack my opening scene full of iconic horror film
expectations and use professional recreations of conventions.
Due to my audience feedback questionnaires, it is clear that
this successfully worked as they felt as if their expectations
were met and used to a great effect and felt as if they were
part of the intended target audience and agreed with my target
of a wide age range.
• Full questionnaires will be uploaded to my blog.