Evaluation Question 4 - Michael Currie

                           EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our media product are young male and females ranging from 15-35. We chose this age range mainly because of our protagonist. He is young aged and works in an office so he becomes a character who is relatable to a large proportion of the world. 

I don't think that our film would be appropriate for an older generation as older people do not tend to go for thriller films. This is probably due to the conventions that are seen in the film:

- Loud music that adds tension

- Fast paced action at times

- Disturbing events and situations

- Shocking climax's throughout the film

- Scenes that make the audience 'jump'

I also don't think that our film appropriate for viewers that are too young. Small children tend to not be interested in the thriller genre. This is probably also due to the conventions:

- Antagonist - could scare children, may not enjoy film as an older audience would.

- 'Jumping' scenes may not be appropriate for young viewers.

- Disturbing events 

- Plot line is aimed at an older audience

Our film is likely to be rated 15 as there may be scenes which could be un-suitable for younger audiences. The film as a whole contains scenes with suspense and light scares. Our film also has themes pf stalking and harassment which are some general thriller conventions and in order to incorporate them effectively the certificate will need to be 15.

There are a number or films which have a similar target audience to ours such as The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Harry Potter and The Hobbit to some extent. All these films have very different plots yet they all have a similar demographic. One film in which has a similar character is 'The Maze Runner'. Thomas, the main character, like Patson, is of the same age as the target audience, allowing him to connect further with him and want to watch the film more. As well as this, all these films have a star appeal our solo male protagonist in Patson can be compared to that of Dylan O'Brien and this allows them to attract even more viewers. 

Although we feel that our age rating should be 15, there has been examples where a film has gotten a different age rating to what it initially wanted. Sweet Sixteen" another UK Independent film directed by Ken Loach aimed the film at an audience of what was meant to be 15+. However, due to the violent language used, the BBFC gave it an 18 certificate, which meant that the target audience could not view the film. We feel that we will not have this problem as we do not plan on having any explicit scenes.

I think that our target audience would want to our film and create an audience for our thriller. We found that most people enjoy watching thrillers at younger age probably because younger people enjoy that action more. Therefore, I believe that our film will have enough action and appeal to our target audience.