The document discusses targeting audiences for a film trailer. It notes that the target age range for a horror/thriller genre is 15-40 years old. Younger characters, like students aged 15-18, and an older character aged 30-40 will be featured. Both male and female characters will be included to appeal to both genders. Feedback from questionnaires found that 15-20 year olds prefer horror and thriller genres. The most popular advertising method is trailers. Trailers give insight into the storyline and characters. Popular horror elements include zombies, children, mysterious people, found footage, and exorcisms.

1. Research & Development
Target Audience
Elise Daniels

2. Target Audience – Gender and Age
Based on my trailer being that of a horror/thriller genre, the age of my film would be
a 15+. As the trailer is a horror, during the two to three-minute clip it may
contain scenes which are scary therefore my trailer would have to be
broadcasted on TV on certain channels and after a certain time period. Although
15 years of age is the minimum age for someone to view my film, there will also
be a upper age limit of roughly 40years old. As my film is a horror/thriller,
stereotypes show that the elderly are less likely to watch film like the one which
will be represented in my trailer. This does not mean that if you are above 40 you
can not watch the film, it just means typically between the ages of 15-40 this age
group will draw in more people from a wide audience to watch the trailer/film.
During the trailer I will specifically be using younger characters around the ages of
15-18 who are students and one older character around the age of 30-40.,who
will the mysterious stalker character. If younger characters are included within
my trailer, this makes it more likely for people around the same ages to be more
inclined to watch the trailer and then go on to watch the film. Recently horror
films have included young children, e.g. Paranormal Activity.

3. Including younger children allows the film to add more shock, mystery and overall
adding a more creepy effect. People around the ages of 15-18 are also more
interested in watching horrors or thrillers to gain a thrill and see how scary they
perceive the film to be. People want to see how scary the film is that's’ why they
want to watch horrors. This therefore means I must distinctively show that my
film is a horror/thriller, to draw in the correct audience.
The gender of the film would also be both male and female, as it is intended to be
viewed by anyone based on the content of the trailer. Both male and female
characters would be included within my trailer therefore it would be viewable for
any gender. For example if I were to create a romantic film, the focus would be
more so for females to watch the film, based on the themes of love. Contrasting
from this horrors include any genders and ages, meaning anyone can watch
them. Therefore there will be a 50:50 ratio of men to women who will watch my
trailer.
The trailer I am going to create will be a on a large independent scale, with British
characters. My trailer will be created to become a independent film as anyone,
anywhere will be able to watch it. My aim is to successfully create a trailer which
can be broadcasted world wide.

4. Feedback
I have created a series of questionnaires which I will use to gain feedback
from a wide audience. This will allow me to find out people's preference
to genre, what they found interesting about the film and why they chose
to watch the film and their ages. Based on this feedback I will then gain
a greater insight into different perceptions of films and trailers. This
feedback I can then enrol into my own creation of my trailer and instead
of basing my trailer strictly upon my opinion I will have gained greater
insight.

5. This is an example of the questionnaire I will be using to gain feedback on the genre
of trailers, ages and advertising.

6. Feedback
Once I collected the questionnaires in from the students within my school, the feedback that I
gained showed that between the ages of 15-20 most people were interested in watching
either horror films. Another popular choice was thrillers, action and science fiction films.
Based on this feedback and my target audience being around the ages of 15-30 I decided to
stick to a horror and thriller genre. This is based on the audience being most interested in this
genre, meaning I would gain a greater audience as it’s a genre that they find most interesting.
Feedback from other questions showed that the most popular form of advertising was
trailers. The answers I received stated that they found trailers a good advertising form due to
trailers always being broadcasted on TV and the internet. Their age group spend a lot of time
watching TV and Internet therefore they continuously see film trailers. Participants also
stated that film trailers give you a greater insight of the storyline and characters. Without
these two key things, the audience will be less inclined to watch the film without the brief
knowledge of what the film is based on.
Feedback on why the participants liked horror, thriller genre’s was based on the fright they
gain from watching the films and the popularity. Answers stated that if their friends or social
networking sites state the film is “scary” or “leaves you on the edge of your seat”, they
become more inclined to watch the trailer or then proceed and watch the film. Horror films
that included zombies, children, mysterious people/creatures, being filmed from a characters
perspective e.g. A camcorder and exorcism’s and were popular choices based on why people
liked horror or thriller movies. Answers stated that including these things was important
within a horror or thriller movie to show the genre clearly to the audience.