Evaluation - 2. How did you attract your audience?

For my thriller video, I decided that my target audience would be 15 - 25 year olds and in the D & E demographic as pictured in picture 7. I chose this demographic as they are the most likely to appreciate the narrative and conform with the genre of a thriller. I aimed to attract my target audience by using the necessary codes and conventions that are often used in thriller films. Mise-en-scene like the location and costumes, typical thriller themes , representation of age and gender. When I gathered a group who fit the profile of my target audience, I got them to take a look at my thriller sequence and asked them to fill out a questionnaire about what they did and didn't like and the results were highly positive.

7.

To give the impression of a typical thriller sequence, I had to take careful consideration over the mise-en-scene. This would be an important factor to hook my audience as it is what the audience are viewing. One of the most important aspects of the mise-en-scene was the location. I chose this location, as shown in picture 8, as it is in a setting that they wouldn't normally find themselves in. The effect of this would be that the audience would both sympathise and relate to the protagonist and be able to put themselves in his shoes as they would be feeling as anxious as he would be in such an unusual setting. This would make the sequence all the more terrifying as the audience can empathise with how the protagonist is feeling. And they would also perceive it as a realistic place for a thriller to be set.

8.

Another important factor of mise-en-scene was the character choice. This was significant as it would have to be somebody who the target audience would be able to associate themselves with. As the majority of the target audience were students, as it shows on my questionnaire, it seemed best to cast the protagonist as a young student as this would make him relatable. An additional aspect of mise-en-scene that had to be taken into careful consideration was the costume. To make my student protagonist believable he had to look like one otherwise my target audience wouldn't perceive him as a realistic student. So I observed what people in the age group of 15 - 25 would wear as casual clothing and bought a pair of skinny jeans (picture 9), a designer t-shirt (picture 11) and a red jumper (picture 10). I made sure the jumper was red as this colour carries connotations of danger and passion. This choice of costume meant that when the target audience watch my thriller sequence and find that characters believable they will relate to him.

9.

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11.

When looking at representation used, the emphasis is very strongly on who the protagonist is represented as. This is of high importance as the focus was on making the protagonist relatable to people in the ages of 15 - 25. I decided on making the protagonist male as although he is possibly represented as less vulnerable than a female. This is shown in other thriller films like Se7en where Brad Pitt (picture 12, left hand corner) is presented as the more masculine protagonist. However he is part of a minority group due to his ginger hair which reinforces the idea that he is still vulnerable despite his gender. This means that our main protagonist can be displayed as a victim and a likeable character. As the protagonist also belongs to the same age group and social category, he was used to represent them in the sequence therefore making him significant to them. The effect of this is that the target audience will then put themselves in his position making the sequence even more thrilling and intimidating.

12.