Target Audience Research

We conducted some interviews in order to discover who are target audience might be. We have come to the conclusion that our target audience is mainly males from 16 to 40 however women and males of other ages may still enjoy our opening.

Certification Research

We will focus from certification 12 through to 18 as we believe this will be the most suitable range of audiences we should consider for our film opening. We will also focus on the aspects which may be included in our film opening to be aware of what is acceptable for each certificate.

12A/12 

Violence - moderate violence, it is acceptable however it is not advised and detail should not be included as it may be overly disturbing for the audience. There should be no emphasis on injury nor blood, however, occasional mild gore may be permitted if justified by the context. 

Language - moderate language is allowed and the use of strong language must be infrequent.

Imitable Behaviour - dangerous behaviour (suicide/self harm) should not be in detail which could be copied or appear harm free.

Theme - Mature themes are acceptable but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers. 

Horror - moderate physical or psychological threats may be permitted however, disturbing sequences should not be frequent.

15

Violence - may be strong however, there should not be intensive detail of how the pain or injury was inflicted. The strongest gory images and sexualised or sadistic violence is unlikely to be acceptable.

Language - there may be frequent use of strong language and the strongest terms are acceptable if the context is justified.

Imitable Behaviour - dangerous behaviour (suicide/self harm) should not be in detail which could be copied or appear harm free.

Theme - No theme is prohibited provided the treatment is appropriate.

Horror - strong threat and menace are permitted unless sexualised.

18

Unlike the other certifications we have researched, adult films do not have any sever restrictions suggesting that older viewers are able to be exposed to extreme violence, sexualisation, illegal drug use, strong language and adult themes.

Target Audience Research

 The genre of thriller has many sub genres including crime, horror or action, however we have chosen to focus on psychological thrillers. Within this sub genre, we discovered that the main characters involved will be faced with an element of unstable emotions or mental ability, therefore this may be encouraging to both a male and female audience.

 Psychological thrillers can also include an aspect of mystery or horror to increase the tension and depth of the film. With this in mind, younger viewers may find this sort of imagery disturbing and inappropriate whereas older viewers may find this exciting and engaging.

 Researching into different examples of thriller film openings, we have found that the popular psychological thriller 'Shutter island' is rated a 15 encouraging teenage audiences to view the film. However, there are some disturbing and violent scenes included suggesting it still can be unacceptable for some younger viewers.

Whereas some psychological thrillers which we researched into, such as 'Silence of the Lambs' are aimed at a much older target audience. This thriller also includes scenes of violence and sexual reference yet it is targeted to an adult audience, unlike 'Shutter island'. We have acknowledged that films which include controversial topics require a higher target audience, therefore as we are choosing to focus our opening on psychopathic issues, we will aim our opening towards an adult audience to avoid any conflict. 

Facebook Page

Here is a print screen of our Facebook page to promote our production company. We have included the logo as our visual image and will post regularly to keep our followers up to date with our progress regarding our film opening. We chose Facebook as one of our social networking sites to promote our work as it is extremely popular worldwide and now has a slightly older target audience.