Target Audience Research

Audience Profiling

When producing a film or any media product, a target audience must be considered and how they would respond to the media product; in this case, a target audience should be identified for our virus sub-genre film. Like all media products, our horror genre film has no meaning until it is decoded by an audience. Therefore, by understanding the demographic or audience profile for our teaser trailer. My group and I can focus on advertising effectively and creating a film that individuals would consume.

Audience Research

Audience research is a major part for any production company. They use questionnaires, focus groups and comparisons to existing media texts in order of gaining an understanding into who would be interested.

Normally, production companies want to know the basics such as income bracket/status, age, gender,  race/ethnicity and location and the categorisation of individuals; this is known as 'demographics'. My group and I know we can begin to shape our film to appeal to spectators if we take into consideration these factors.

ABC Scale

I have predicted that the following categories within the ABC scale will be included within my target audience - C2 includes skilled working class individuals such as manual workers (electricians, mechanics, plumbers etc.) D includes working class individuals such as semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers ( bus drivers, factory line workers, retail employees etc.) E includes subsistence individuals (pensioners, casual workers, students)

Ranging from C2 to E entails students still within the education system, apprentices, employed individuals and audience members between the ages of 15 - 25. The reason as to why I have chosen to gather my information through a questionnaire is due to the fact that, when compared to other ways of evaluating information, they have many advantages.

Advantages

They provide questions to large numbers of people simultaneously and in a variety of locations. Each person that participates receives the same set of identical questions with closed-form standardised responses. Moreover, those that participate remain anonymous therefore, the chances that questions are answered truthfully increases.

Disadvantages

It may be difficult to obtain a good response rate. Often there is no strong motivation for those that participate to respond to the questions asked. As well as this, the quality of data is probably not as high as with alternative methods of data collection such as interviewing in person.

Initially, I had to consider what my questionnaire's objective was. But, more specifically, I had to identify what kind of information I wanted to obtain. After this, I began to take notes on what I could potentially ask within the questionnaire. Below, is a print screen of questions I am considering on asking individuals that participate in the questionnaire. If this is to change, I will post a newer and more useful improvement on my blog.

'Gone' Script Treatment - Entire Film

Act 1 - Equilibrium

Fade-in. Setting = protagonist's bedroom. Alarm sounds. Protagonist sits up with his back to the camera. He opens curtains abruptly in order to wake himself up. Protagonist prepares for the day ahead by having a shower and getting dressed. Before he leaves his home, he looks in the mirror in order to make sure that everything is in its right place. Walks down his street heading towards train station. He commutes to work via train. Enters work environment. Sits at an office desk. Carries out usual mundane activities; e-mailing, making phone calls etc. Begins to daydream leaving him to lose his focus whilst employee makes conversation about nothing overly important. Gets invited to an after work drink but makes some excuse as to why he won't be going. Protagonist doesn't try hard to talk to those around him. Audience see the protagonist on his journey home; enters train station, gets onto train, gets off train, walks down his street and enters home (told in discourse time). Sequence shot of him listening to a answer phone message from his mother whilst taking coat and shoes off followed by him entering the kitchen to get a glass of water. His Mother states that she hasn't seen much of him since his brother died. Protagonist doesn't pay too much attention to the message (background noise). Possible crab shot of protagonist looking in fridge. Begins to prepare himself for a jog. Tracking shot located besides protagonist. Whilst jogging along the seafront, he sees families, couples and children walking (possible point of view shot). Begins to sprint as if to run away from the truth; the protagonist is in denial (presumably) about his brothers death (possible enigma). Act one purpose is to allow the audience to be introduced to the film's protagonist and narrative locations. Moreover, the audience can establish the usual everyday equilibrium the protagonist lives within; as the movie progresses, the viewer unconsciously forms a frame for the story, and their suspension of disbelief narrows, limiting what they will accept as correct.

Act 2 - Disequilibrium

An event must happen by the midpoint of the script in order to make the protagonist's objective clear. In this case, the protagonist must come to terms with dying after becoming a victim to the virus therefore, he appreciates life and the acceptance of loss. Similarly to act ones acknowledgement of everyday routine, act two presents how normality is broken. (Tracking shot from side of protagonist). Overcast weather sets the tone through pathetic fallacy. Whilst protagonist is jogging along his usual route after work, he begins to have a nose bleed. Initially, he thinks that it might be nasal fluid so he thinks nothing of it and just sniffs. Whilst the blood continues to drip, passers-by start to stare (possible point-of-view shot). Eventually, protagonist starts to feel blood touching his lips; sudden realisation that it was blood all along. Tracking shot stops abruptly much like the protagonist. This helps to convey across to the audience how the protagonist is confused about what has happened (the normality in his world has stopped). Protagonist starts to wipe nose with the back of his hand unable to stop the bleeding. Tracking shot facing protagonist begins to move away whilst he is stood centre. Straight cut to black. Straight cut showing protagonist back in his home. Crab shot showing protagonist looking through fridge picking out many items; sudden feeling of hunger begins to dominates protagonists actions. After making a large sandwich, protagonist sits on sofa and flicks through television channels. Most, if not all, of the five major channels are reporting breaking news. 'News Network' reports the symptoms of the virus. Various shot are shown of riots, conflict and anarchy (reference to Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later' opening scene; INTERTEXTUALITY) Protagonist realises that he is suffering from two of the symptoms; sudden hunger and nose bleeds. Door bell rings. Next door's sons ask if they can have their football back as it is in protagonist's garden. Protagonist goes to fetch football. As he picks up the ball, he has a sudden flashback of when him and his brother used to play. Tears appear in Protagonists eyes but before he can cry, next doors sons call out for help; their dad is in a fit of rage and is unable to correspond with his young sons. Moreover, the boys' father is bleeding from the nose, eyes and ears. It is made clear he had become a victim to the virus. Protagonist tells the boys to call for an ambulance whilst trying to restrain the Father. Whilst holding down the Father, he sees that he is wearing a Saint Christopher around his neck like his Brother use to. This brings back the memory of when Protagonist was given the Saint Christopher after his Brother passed away after doctor's tried to save him (enigmas are created 'how did the brother die?' and 'why couldn't he be saved?'. Next door neighbour is taken away in an ambulance. When going back into the house, spectator is shown a flashback of Protagonist and his brother.

Act 3 - New Equilibrium
Senses start to deteriorate. Firstly, the ability to smell and taste, followed by hearing then sight. The protagonist first realises that smell and taste are going when he cannot taste anything within his kitchen (coffee, mustard, onion). Eventually, the protagonist is just existing rather than living which is similar to the state the protagonist was in anyway when the audience were introduced to him. The main theme within this chapter is self discovery. Protagonist decides that he must make amends with his Mother and Father and finally confront them after feeling to blame regarding the car crash that killed his brother (he was driving on the night of the incident). His father can no longer hear or see his son but he can feel his son's hand in his. When his Mother is seen waving goodbye to protagonist through the window, her nose begins to bleed. Eventually, protagonist finds his Mother and Father dead in their home (again, reference to Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later' when Jim finds his parents dead). Protagonist's surrounding environment enters a dystopian state; individuals begin to vandalise property, looting from shops. Government begin to intervene by placing military personnel out in public to organise those who are infected; quarantining begins. 

Potential Film Idea Pitches

Today my group and I discussed what individual film ideas we have produced over the October half-term following codes and conventions of horror genre and virus sub-genre. Each group member was required to produce a script treatment that covered the three part narrative structure (set-up, conflict and resolution) within each of our narratives as well as to give an overall understanding to the group into events, themes, characters and locations. To accompany the script treatment, a storyboard was created allowing each group member to see a basic visual translation into the order of events within each of our virus sub-genre films.

Dean Fisher's 'Town Of The Dead'

Dean was the first group member to pitch his film idea. 'Town Of The Dead' revolves around 'Amy' who wakes within the comfort of her own home to find that she has no recollection of the night before. After preparing herself for the day ahead, she leaves the house only to find that her environment has changed overnight; blood spatters on the pavement and rubbish/debris lying in the road adds to the audiences understanding of the disorder and disorganisation Amy faces. Whilst Amy is trying to locate any injured victims, she hears screams/cries for help in the distance. Amy runs towards the source of screaming.

Eventually, she finds herself at the town's petrol station; this location is where Amy witnesses her first infected victim. The victim is aged around 9 to 12 years of age and is seen feasting on the corpse of a middle-aged man. Amy screams in reaction to what she has scene which gains the infected girl's attention. Amy begins to run away from the infected individual and finds sanctuary in a treehouse after losing the infected individuals attention. Introduce 'Jessica'. Amy begins to ask Jessica questions about the events that have happened and the town's sudden overnight deterioration. Jessica is reserved within conversation.

Eventually, Amy befriends Jessica and convinces her to leave the tree house in order to find help. Along the way, Jessica and Amy meet a group of mainly male individuals all uninfected. Introduce Dan. Amy and Dan make a connection. Amy, Jessica and Dan along with the other uninfected individuals search for potential transportation. They come across an operational boat big enough to carry the entire group. Possible discourse time to show group repair and improvement of boat. When all individuals feel satisfied with their project, they push the boat out to sea. Unfortunately, there was a part of the boat unrepaired. This means that the group gain the infected individuals attention. Fortunately, Protagonist Amy, Jessica and Dan escape the attack.

When all three individuals think they have escaped, Amy gets bitten. Amy self-sacrifices herself to save Jessica and Dan. Jessica and Dan live on to start their own journey.

The application of traditional code and conventions of the horror genre within the narrative. The everyday locations within the narrative means filming locations would be easily accessible to my group and I. Moreover, realistic locations (small seaside town, petrol station etc.) imply that this could easily happen in an environment near us (the audience). 

What I think I would consider altering would be the presentation of initial equilibrium as I would want the audience to understand the normal state of affairs Amy is used to living by. As well as this, a clear transformation between everyday life and life involving the infected would give the audience a greater understanding into the chaotic situation the protagonist finds herself in. Also consideration of the deterioration period the infection takes to gain control over individuals.

Jasmine Rosser's 'Silence'

Jasmine's narrative idea revolves around student 'Lisa’. A new day begins and Lisa prepares herself for the day ahead (equilibrium is established and protagonist is introduced to the audience). No other family members are in the house. Lisa searches for an explanation (note, voice message, text) as to why she is alone; she comes to the conclusion that her Mother and Father have headed to work early. Unable to carry out the usual daily tasks (due to no power), Lisa heads to school.

She notices that her parent’s cars are still parked outside with no sign of ever leaving. Lisa goes to call her Mother but her phone is receiving no signal. Bins haven't been collected and skid marks on the roads can be seen in her street suggesting a car has made efforts to swerve away from someone or something. Located at the top of her hill, two figures can be seen. She begins to walk towards the school. Lisa confronts the individuals thinking that they possibly are fellow class mates. They are not. They show signs of an accident; grazed knees, bleeding foreheads, cut cheekbones etc. Lisa asks if they require help. They do not answer. Lisa notices that both their eyes are dilated and they seem to be struggling to walk.

Lisa changes course of direction. Collides with classmate. Introduce Jim. Jim explains the situation. Town residents have become infected with a virus due to a contaminated water supply. Dan has knowledge about the situation due to his Father informing him who is an employee for the water supplier.

Lisa and Jim decided to still continue heading towards an environment they are familiar with (the school). A few dozen infected individuals are seen roaming the school grounds. Signs are placed around the school stating that those uninfected can find supplies and sanctuary at the local castle. Lisa and Jim head towards there. Upon arrival, Lisa sees her Aunt. Lisa’s Aunt explains that Lisa’s Mother, Father and Sister have all become infected. Jasmine is still undecided when it comes to resolution to her three part narrative therefore, there is no definite conclusion to her narrative.

Similarly to Dean’s ‘Town Of The Dead’, the virus’s domination of the town and the transformation from everyday equilibrium to disruption (disequilibrium) happens overnight. What I like about this is the fact that the protagonist is left seeking the same answers the audience do; this supports Barthes’ Enigma theory.

Inspirational Film Stimuli

Above, is an inspiration film stills collage I have collated that has helped to me to visualise what potential cinematography, camera angles, camera composition, lighting and mise-en-scene I am considering on using within my virus-sub genre film teaser trailer 'Gone'.  Moreover, this collage has helped to convey across to individuals within my group what I hope to achieve visually using references to other contemporary films. The following film stills have been taken from Steve McQueen's 'Shame', David Mackenzie's 'Perfect Sense' and Terrance Malick's 'To The Wonder'.

This page was taken from a article discussing Halloween themed events happening all around the city of London.

This is a sketch I've drawn which has helped me to see what my ideas look like on paper.

Teaser Trailer Research

'28 Days Later' Teaser Trailer

Director - Danny Boyle

Writer - Alex Garland

Production Companies - DNA Films and British Film Council

Distribution Company - 20th Century Fox

Cast - Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Ecclestone

Budget - $8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend - £1,500,079 (UK) (3rd November 2002)

Gross - £6,140,420 (UK) (15th December 2002)

Distribution Size - Saturated release as the film was exhibited in over 500 screens nationally.

IMDb Rating - 7.6 out of 10

Teaser Trailer Duration - 1 minute and 29 Seconds

Use of Graphics - The graphics establish the virus's progression of contamination through discourse time. Discourse time avoids unnecessary information and instead focuses on the highlights / key events within the narrative. The graphic transitions consist of gradual fading in and out much like the motion of a warning light. Lower case is used within the first line of each sentence yet when the graphics state each stage of virus, upper case is used to heighten audience awareness of virus's presence. The white colouring of graphics connotes hope and innocence therefore, this foreshadows the remainder of the teaser trailer as the spectator presumes that a resolution will be made to the disequilibrium shown.

Links - 'From the director of 'Shallow Grave', 'Trainspotting' and 'The Beach' presents to the audience previous successful and well-known productions from the director of '28 Days Later'. This suggests that individuals that admire Danny Boyle's work or enjoy films within the Horror Genre (specifically Virus sub-genre) will enjoy watching this production.

Logos - The introduction of the distributors logo (20th Century Fox) is shown within the opening 5 seconds of the teaser trailer. Furthermore, adding to the codes and conventions of the horror genre, the traditional 20th Century Fox logo which is usually seen with spotlights shining towards it is instead shown with the spotlights turning off one by one. This adds to the theme of loss of normality that is shown within the teaser trailer.

'The Crazies' Teaser Trailer

Director - Breck Eisner

Writers - Scott Kosar (Screenplay), Ray Wright (Screenplay) and George .A. Romero

Production Companies - Overture Films, Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi

Distribution Companies - Paramount Pictures, Momentum Pictures and Overture films

Cast -  Radha Mitchell, Timothy Olyphant and Danielle Panabaker                        

Budget - $20,000,000 (estimated)      

Opening Weekend - £1,194,207 (UK) (26 February 2010)    

Gross - $39,103,378 (USA) (14 May 2010)

Distribution Size - Saturated release as the film was exhibited in over 500 screens nationally.

IMDb Rating - 6.6 out of 10

Teaser Trailer Duration - 0 minutes 44 seconds

Use of Graphics - The graphic transitions consist of gradual fading in and out similar to the motion of a warning light. Much like '28 Days Later', the white colouring of graphics connotes hope and innocence therefore, this foreshadows the remainder of the teaser trailer as the spectator presumes that a resolution will be made to the disequilibrium shown. What is stated within the graphics juxtaposes the visuals that appear after. For example  the line 'before our cities are taken over' is followed by a birds eye shot presenting groups of individuals with authority (i.e. military) quarantining residents of towns and cities; statements make the spectator consider the

Links - www.ogdenmarsh.com and www.the-crazies.com

Logos - The introduction of the production company logo (Overture Films and Participant Media ) is shown within the opening 3 seconds of the teaser trailer. 

'Contagion' Teaser Trailer

Director - Steven Soderbergh

Writer - Scott Z. Burns

Production Companies - Warner Bros., Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Distribution Company - Warner Brothers

Cast - Jude Law, Matt Damon, Bryan Cranson and Kate Winslet

Budget - $60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend - $22,403,596 (USA) (11 September 2011)

Gross - $75,658,097 (USA) (15 December 2011)

Distribution Size - Saturated release as the film was exhibited in over 500 screens nationally and in over 3,200 Screens in the United State alone.

IMDb Rating - 6.7 out of 10

Teaser Trailer Duration - 0 minutes and 33 Seconds

Use of Graphics - The graphics break the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience. For example 'PLEASE...REMAIN...CALM' commands the audience to act a specific way within a chaotic situation. Upper case is used to heighten audience awareness of virus's presence and the sense of urgency. The red colouring of graphics connotes danger, anger and blood and the yellow colouring of cast names implies that their characters are in danger

Links - List of cast names increases the production appeal as individuals are more likely to watch a film containing well-known artists (bankers). www.contagion.co.uk

Logos - The introduction of the distributors logo (Warner Bros., Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ) is shown within the opening 3 seconds of the teaser trailer. Furthermore, adding to the codes and conventions of the horror genre, the traditional Century Fox logo which is usually seen with spotlights shining towards it is instead shown with the spotlights turning off one by one. This adds to the theme of loss of normality that is shown within the teaser trailer.