Evaluation Question 4

Who would the audience be for your media product?

My primary target audience is 18-25 year old ABC1 females. This is because, after extensive research, I found that the most successful crime thriller I researched at the box office was 'Gone Girl' which had a young, female target audience. I knew I wanted a female protagonist in my film and this statistic supported the idea that this could be achieved with successful profits. I wanted to do this to challenge genre conventions as I wanted to encourage the idea that women can be strong and independent without the need for a man. I was also unconventional as I used characters younger in age than is typical in this genre of film. This is because I wanted to attract a younger target audience and, in order to do this, I needed to reflect the audience in the characteristics of my protagonist.

My secondary target audience is ABC1 women aged 26-39. This is because my film is quite female heavy, although there will definitely be male characters - including policemen, people involved in the murders and Emma's love interest - the protagonist and the chief police investigator would both be female. This means both my primary and secondary target audiences are women. I chose a slightly older age group because crime thrillers can have quite mature audiences with 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' having an average audience of 40-54 year old women. I am hoping to draw these viewers into my film by presenting them with a mature, intricate plot they can really engage with in a genre I know they already enjoy, despite the characters being younger than is usually expected.

The majority of the crime/thrillers I looked at for reference had an age rating of 15-18 with a couple of 12s. (Gone Girl 18, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 18, Fargo 18, Zodiac 15, The Bourne Identity 12, Collateral 12). I would aim to have my rating at a 15 because my target audience are 18-25 year olds who have the patience and intelligence to follow the plot line, especially with the disjointed formula but need something more gritty to hold their attention and bring more depth into the film. I am going to have quite a violent, threatening plot which may not be suitable for younger viewers meaning it needs to have an age rating of at least 15. I am not having an age rating of 12 because this would make the action too mundane for my target audience but I'm not making it an 18 because I don't want to restrict possible income for my film of 15-17 year olds who they film will also appeal to.