The document discusses how the filmmakers addressed their target audience in the opening sequence of their horror film. They chose to partner with Blumhouse Productions as their distributor because Blumhouse specializes in similar horror films that already have an established audience. Using a child as the first antagonist was meant to intrigue audiences by subverting expectations, as was including chase scenes shot with handheld cameras to create tension. The film spans different eras to allow modern audiences to relate to characters and settings. A female antagonist challenges gender stereotypes and makes the film stand out from most horror films that feature male antagonists.

1. QUESTION 5
HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

2. THE
DISTRIBUTOR
After much consideration,
Blumhouse productions was
the distributor to our horror
film that we created an
opening sequence for as they
have a film profile with a lot of
films similar to ‘The Child’.
Other films they have released
are Paranormal Activity and
Insidious which were both very
successful films, meaning that
they already have an audience
to target. This enabled our film
to be attractive to the audience
as it is similar to the other
films that Blumhouse has
released.
Another benefit of choosing to release our film with Blumhouse was
the conglomerate it worked with (Paramount) as it would attract
more of an audience due to the knowledge that the audience has of
the bigger company. Insidious and Paranormal activity were released
by both of the companies working together, and both were
extremely successful and attracted a lot of audience.

3. CHARACTE
RS
The first antagonist introduced to
the audience was a young boy, the
reason why we chose to use a child
as the first antagonist was to
captivate our audience; most horror
films that include children are
unpredictable like Insidious. I
wanted to challenge the stereotype
of children being innocent, just like
many horror films do such as
Annabelle. Other than being a
conventional technique, it makes
our story plot much more
interesting which will interest our
audience, making them want to
carry on watching the film after
viewing the opening sequence. The
child character in the opening
sequence was representing the loss
of innocence. The use of the child
also shows the audience another
side of males inflicting gore,
The first scene within the opening sequence shows a child
playing with a toy, at the top of the stairs which doesn’t
connotate any danger but because of his dark eyes, sinister look
upon his face tells the audience otherwise. The high angle shot
and just off centre framing puts the child at a vulnerable state;
which contradicts the upcoming scenes of his evil ways, making
the audience want to find out more about the character like his

4. SCENES
Having a chase scene within our
opening sequence is very
conventional for the horror genre as
they instantly create tension for the
audience. The location of the chase
scene was very conventional to the
genre as it was filmed in the woods,
this allowed the audience to
apprehend the danger that was
approaching, meaning that we
conformed to Pye’s theory of
audience expectations. To create
disorder and add more tension to
the atmosphere we used hand held
camera shots, rather than using a
tripod. The unsteadiness of the
scene created an uncomfortable
atmosphere for the audience but
also captivated them so that they
would want to carry on watching;
these feelings portrayed through the
opening sequence are very
During the start of the chase scene we used a low angle shot
that only framed the legs of the characters which created
mystery for the audience as the characters shown had not yet
been introduced to the audience yet. The second character
shown was female (recognisable by her clothing) carrying a
knife, introducing a second antagonist to the audience. The
mystery excites the audience as they want to find out more

5. ERAS
The average age of our target audience would
have been born near the year that part of our
horror opening sequence is set in which
means that the horror film has grown with
them and has been happening their whole life
as we wanted to base our film on true events.
The fonts used to display the eras suited the
genre and was conventional to the opening
sequence conventions that we researched.
Having the majority of the film set in the
current era allows for the audience to relate
more to the story as features of it will be
more recognisable to them. Another
drawing factor for the audience is the
characters used within the newer era side of
the opening sequence as they’d be able to
relate more to the characters due to being

6. CHARACTERS
Having a female antagonist in the
opening sequence makes our film
different and more interesting to our
audience as most horror films that I
researched into had a male antagonist,
meaning they won’t get bored of seeing
another male antagonist for the lead
role. Another way having a female
antagonist in our opening sequence
attracts audiences is by the way the
stereotype of the female is challenged.
When females are portrayed they are
normally represented as vulnerable and
need saving, typically by a man.Using a female victim creates binary opposites between the two characters as one is
fulfilling their stereotype and the other is challenging it. This attracted our audience
because it fulfilled their want for both a female antagonist and female victim; especially
when they are enemies going against each other. To identify them we used costume and
props so that they were both conventional to their characters; the antagonist was carrying a
knife which is extremely recognisable to our audience as a weapon, she was also wearing a
leather jacket that has connotations to evil and danger. The victim was dressed in typical
teenager clothes; a t-shirt, jeans and a hoodie. The hodie was a reference to the gang the