Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our media product are young males and females ranging from the age of 15-35. The reason for this age range is because of the role of the protagonist. He works in an office job, and is therefore completely relatable to a large portion of the population of the world

                                                                Examples of films

Another thriller film which portrays the protagonist as an office worker is 'The Matrix'. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is working in an office job at the beginning of the film before entering a digital paradox world, very similar to our plot, however our film is much more psychological and darker.

 The effect of the protagonist being in an office job is to evoke pathos for them. The audience can get behind the character and empathise with him if they work in an office job too, and sympathise with him if they don't work in an office job because office jobs are often depicted as miserable and depressing in films.

                                                  Keanu Reeves as an office worker:

Another film which is famous for its depressing outlook on life where the character is in a miserable office job is 'American Beauty'. The setting of the office, the low-key lighting and dull grey colours evoke pathos for the character because the audience wouldn't want to be in his position.

American Beauty office scene:

• Our film isn't specifically targeted at males because it is more of a psychological thriller that both genders can enjoy, rather than an action thriller.
•  There aren't lots of explosions and blood and every other convention of films that the male population salivates over; this film rather makes the audience think and contemplate the actions of each character and be aware of the consequences that will follow for the characters' actions. For this reason, our thriller film opening effectively builds tension. 
• An example of the psychological element in our thriller opening is how the main protagonist is running through a series of doors in a futile attempt to escape, but never exits into any corridors, but rather more and more rooms, as if he's stuck in a loophole. 
• The camera angles and mis-en-scene certainly do not appeal to small children, because of the eerie atmosphere they create, along with tension. 
• Shots such as the cctv scenes we included in our opening would scare young children, therefore when the audience see these shots in the opening two minutes in the film they instantly know that they couldn't have brought their children to the film.

CCTV scenes:

The movement of the camera as it pans to watch me confirms to the audience that something or someone is watching me, creating a tense atmosphere only suitable for adults, as children wouldn't enjoy it or understand it.

 The pulsating drone sound near the end of the film instantly creates an uncomfortable atmosphere which is only suitable for an adult audience. We gave this film a certificate of 15; it's cunning, sharp, very tense and confusing at times so this wouldn't be suitable for children below the age of 15. Yet it isn't gory, too violent and there aren't many swear words and inappropriate language, or sexual content/drug use, so therefore it wouldn't be a rated 18 film.

 One film that was targeted for the teenage demographic was Ken Loach's 'Sweet Sixteen'. In a special interview Ken Loach admits that he was furious that the film became an 18 because there were 'too many swear words' because that meant that most teenagers wouldn't be able to see the film, and nearly all the teenage actors in the actual film were not allowed to see this film. To avoid this, we didn't want to include too much violence or swear words. There is only one violent scene in the opening, yet still the character isn't hurting anybody else, but rather throwing a chair in frustration.

The throwing of the chair scene:

The title of our film is 'Dormant'. The name of the title alone is quite eerie and suspenseful because the adult audience will know that something is inactive but will probably wake up in the film. The majority of children wouldn't even know what dormant means, so the film wouldn't have the same effect on them as it would on adults.