Description of Target Audience

Identifying the target audience is essential when basing an opening sequence around them. Below is a detailed description of our target audience.

Age - 15+
Gender - Female/Male
Social Demographic - Working class
Occupation - Student at college/university
Hobbies and interests - a standard day to day female/male who enjoys socialising and going out with friends in their spare time. Attending parties on the weekends and regularly going to the cinema. They are dedicated and enthusiastic in terms of their education and work hard to achieve their full potential at college/university. She/he would be interested in regular stuff such as going to concerts, keeping up-to-date with fashion etc.
Style - She/he likes to follow trend in order to ‘fit in’ and they take care of their appearance.
Personality - An outgoing, bubbly character who has a good sense of humor, but can also be serious when convenient. They are friendly, and doesn’t judge a book by its cover. While accepting everyone is different, they will be conscious of situations around them, refusing to be influenced by other peoples decision making. She/he would be quite sensible and aware of the line between what is right and wrong when acting upon things.
Media Grouping - Their favourite films will be jumpy, crime orientated films. She/he will watch these to receive a ‘buzz’ but at the same time to understand the actions that are/are not acceptable in a modern society. They will however watch ordinary television, soaps such as hollyoaks but also entertaining television like x-factor.
What audience theory’s will the film offer? - The Uses and Gratifications Theory is an approach to understand why people seek out specific media content for different purposes. Blumler & Katz suggested that a text must ‘gratify an audience’s needs’. This could include a series of different needs such as offering the audience information, entertainment, education, social interaction and personal identity.
 

Information: Satisfying curiosity and general interest, for self-education which they could gain a sense of security through knowledge.
Entertainment: To escape, or be diverted from problems. To get emotional release or just general enjoyment.
Education: To gain a better understanding into situations, realising the bigger picture.
Social Interaction: Gaining an insight into circumstances of others, to gain a sense of their own belonging. To find a basis for conversation, while having a substitute for real-life companionship.
Personal Identity: To look at different models of behaviour, which would enable them to gain an insight into themselves. But also to find a reinforcement for personal values.


Our opening sequence and film plan on offering these needs to our target audience. They will gain information and self education on how to behave and react in certain situations. This will help them to look at the bigger picture. By watching a situation which somebody else is in, they will be able to relate this to themselves and think about what they would do given they were the character. This would stimulate interaction, as a basis for conversation. I think the main need that our film will promote is personal identity. This is because they will be able to look at different models of behaviour (the old man thinking it is acceptable to keep the young girl) and again relate this to the behaviour of themselves. They will learn what is acceptable and what is wrong, this will reinforce their personal values.