Target Audience Results - Miss Miller

The larger number of males in our target audience results at 55% compared to females at 45% suggests that our thriller film should contain most of the common thriller conventions such as a female interest and chase scenes as males find these enjoyable in a thriller film and we need to interest the majority of the target audience which are males. 

  

With the vast majority of people who answered our questionnaire being teenagers we now know that our thriller film will need to feature the more modern thriller conventions of violence and gore like that in 'Last house on the left' to attract them. As this is what the majority of our target audience like in a thriller film.

With the two most popular films shutter island and inception being psychological thrillers it is clear that we will need to incorporate an aspect of mystery in our thriller opening to show what the majority clearly want. An enigma for the audience to solve as our thriller opening is concluded will be appropriate if we hope to attract audiences that like psychological thrillers. Mysterious/hidden identity would therefore be an appropriate concept to use within our thriller opening, as it is creates an enigma, which is relative to that of a psychological thriller. The antagonists concealed identity creates suspense and tension, which is relatable to the thriller genre as the audience are unaware of who he is and where he might come from, keeping them at the edge of their seats, guessing what will happen next. These effects of tension and suspense are exactly what we are looking to evoke within our thriller genre and we will do this through the use of making our thriller opening more psychological as it is what our research shows our audience wants. 

The results on this question are a reflection of our results on question two. In order for our film to feature the more modern thriller conventions of gore, violence and sexual scenes. it will need to have a higher age rating as these kind of scenes are distressing for younger viewers and many of the modern thriller conventions would not be applicable for certificate 12 films. As you can see from the above graph 45% of the people we asked wanted the film to be rated 15 and 43% wanted it to be rated at 18. This tells us that our audience wants more mature material in our thriller opening such as strong language and violence within our thriller film as an age’s certificate of 18 and 15 would both allow this. This would also be relatable to our previously asked question "how old are you?" as teenagers favor more modern thriller conventions such as gore and violence that would be allowed in these age certificates. 

It is clear that from this question result people are still interested in the older thriller conventions (horror) as well as the more modern conventions that are aligned with action. Our results show 43% of the people asked favored a horror thriller and 37% of people liking the action thriller. This tells us that we will need to get a healthy medium between the two modern and classic thriller types. Using low-key lighting and a masked antagonist to appeal to the horror convention aspect of our thriller opening sequence and using more action conventions such as a fast paced soundtrack and iconography such as guns to appeal to fans of action thrillers. 

We will need to feature a female victim within our thriller opening as 67% of people we asked agreeing that a female victim would interest them it is clear that some of the past thriller conventions have been carried over to the modern thriller films. With female victims still being prominent in many modern thriller films despite the sub genre. This means that we should defiantly include a female victim as it is a popular thriller convention and grabs the audience’s interest. Ideally we should look to include a blonde female victim, as it is more relatable to the thriller genre and its classic thriller convention of a blonde female victim as they are seen to be more vulnerable and as a result further the tension and suspense on screen. Alfred Hitchcock 'The lodger' is one of the most memorable thriller films that use this convention. We will take inspiration from this film when using the blonde female victim convention as it uses it so well to increase the tension and suspense within the narrative. 

The results above clearly illustrate that we will need an antagonist with a hidden identity within our thriller opening. With hidden identity again being a undying convention of the thriller genre it is no surprise that it is popular within our questionnaire results. Hidden identity will need to be a must in our thriller opening as 75% voted for it meaning that we will need to adopt our initial idea of a clown mask in our thriller opening as it will also appeal to the audience in that it will reach the horror sub genre that 43% of the people we asked preferred it. The hidden identify convention is also relatable to the thriller genre as when used effectively it increase the tension and suspense as the enigma created surrounding who the killer is keeps the audience focused and engrossed in the narrative. 

With the majority of the people we questioned being male teenagers it is no surprise that a young actor would be preferred. I would suggest that from this we could concur that we will need to have one. Using an actor that is at the same age as our target audience would be effective in increasing effects such as tension and suspense as the audience will be able to relate to the actor, building the relationship between audience and character. Or alternatively we could feature a young female actor (preferably blonde, as a blonde female victim is a convention of the thriller genre that is popular within films such as 'Basic instinct) in our thriller opening to stick to popular thriller conventions.  

Our only open question in our questioner; what settings do you like in thrillers? Produced some unexpected results. I would have expected the majority to choose a normal house as it is relatable to their life and so it would be scarier. However only 13% chose this option, the majority opted for a deserted setting. Which is not as conventional as a normal, relatable, environment. So I may have to take part of my thriller opening to a more secluded setting.    

The research that I have carried out will help in the creation of my thriller opening, as I now know what thriller conventions are more popular and are necessary to be included in my thriller opening. One of which is the aspect of horror that i will need to somehow implement into it as well as the isolated location.

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