1. When planning our film, as a group we watched a number of films, including Insidious (which I couldn't finish :$) and researched them also, to give us an idea of what target audience we should be working towards. This also included assessing our script and theme, in order to appeal to this target audience. We concluded that the target audience of ages 18-29 would be more suitable to our film, especially Males, particularly because of our choice of victim, and the themes we intend to use. In doing this however, we have to be careful not to exclude our female audience also.
2. We wanted our film to be accessible to any gender, ethnicity etc; we wanted it to be universal. With this in mind, for our target audience was only restricted by age (18-29). We felt the best way to engage this audience would be to use a teenage actress. This would present a degree of familiarity and increase the chance of the audience empathising with the character, which in theory should increase the effect on them
3. For our location, we used my grandmothers house, accompanied with a cup and a typewriter as our props. The location was perfect for our piece, as the lighting is naturally quite dark, and (with all due respect Grandma; much love), it is somewhat creepy to be in when the lights are out. The house is decorated with quite dreary combinations of reds and yellows, and the living room has only the one light source (conservatory door). This kind of setting is quite common among psychological horrors. An example of this could be "The Ring" or "Insidious", where the threat is usually presented in very dark a dingy conditions
4. Our victim is a teenage girl, which is very appropriate for our target audience; an age group under which our victim falls. This makes it easier for our audience to relate to the character
5. Our title sequence was inspired by the title sequence of Se7en. It was a very abstract design, and was very original, which was the kind of look we wanted to go for.
6. For our music, I wanted to deviate from the obvious. Everyone else in the class was using strings, and minor chords on a piano to create an effect. Whilst this is an effective way of creating a soundtrack, I personally felt that I had enough experience in creating soundtracks or tracks in general, to think a bit further out of the box. What I opted to do, is use a program called Reason, and use a subtle bass drum to create an eerie effect. It was a strange task to do; it did not require the musical prowess that I am used to being a prerequisite, but instead involved being surreal, and abstract. I used an eerie screeching sound, one of the Malstrom patches called Comblead. This sound was very erratic, and creating a subtle startle/
2. We wanted our film to be accessible to any gender, ethnicity etc; we wanted it to be universal. With this in mind, for our target audience was only restricted by age (18-29). We felt the best way to engage this audience would be to use a teenage actress. This would present a degree of familiarity and increase the chance of the audience empathising with the character, which in theory should increase the effect on them
3. For our location, we used my grandmothers house, accompanied with a cup and a typewriter as our props. The location was perfect for our piece, as the lighting is naturally quite dark, and (with all due respect Grandma; much love), it is somewhat creepy to be in when the lights are out. The house is decorated with quite dreary combinations of reds and yellows, and the living room has only the one light source (conservatory door). This kind of setting is quite common among psychological horrors. An example of this could be "The Ring" or "Insidious", where the threat is usually presented in very dark a dingy conditions
4. Our victim is a teenage girl, which is very appropriate for our target audience; an age group under which our victim falls. This makes it easier for our audience to relate to the character
5. Our title sequence was inspired by the title sequence of Se7en. It was a very abstract design, and was very original, which was the kind of look we wanted to go for.
6. For our music, I wanted to deviate from the obvious. Everyone else in the class was using strings, and minor chords on a piano to create an effect. Whilst this is an effective way of creating a soundtrack, I personally felt that I had enough experience in creating soundtracks or tracks in general, to think a bit further out of the box. What I opted to do, is use a program called Reason, and use a subtle bass drum to create an eerie effect. It was a strange task to do; it did not require the musical prowess that I am used to being a prerequisite, but instead involved being surreal, and abstract. I used an eerie screeching sound, one of the Malstrom patches called Comblead. This sound was very erratic, and creating a subtle startle/
I have selected the following films to research regarding their target audiences
- - The Shining
- - Black Swan
- - The Ring
- - The Sixth Sense
- - The Grudge
“The Shining” is certificated ‘15’. Because of this more mature certification, we can gather that it rules out a younger audience from being the movies target audiences. As further evidence of this, the content gives a very clear image of what to expect in the movie, and has shown that a number of the scenes in the movie are not suitable to younger and immature audiences
| Votes | Average | |
| Males | 177,989 |  8.5 |
| Females | 32,493 |  8.4 |
| Aged under 18 | 3,444 |  8.7 |
| Males under 18 | 2,667 | 8.8 |
| Females under 18 | 747 | 8.4 |
| Aged 18-29 | 121,979 | 8.6 |
| Males Aged 18-29 | 101,158 | 8.6 |
| Females Aged 18-29 | 20,123 | 8.5 |
| Aged 30-44 | 70,653 | 8.5 |
| Males Aged 30-44 | 60,925 | 8.5 |
| Females Aged 30-44 | 9,004 | 8.4 |
| Aged 45+ | 14,502 | 8.1 |
| Males Aged 45+ | 11,986 | 8.2 |
| Females Aged 45+ | 2,324 | 8.0 |
| IMDb staff | 42 | 8.8 |
| Top 1000 voters | 882 | 8.4 |
| US users | 64,123 | 8.5 |
| Non-US users | 136,691 | 8.5 |
| IMDb users | 251,251 | 8.5 |
"Black Swan" is also certificated "15". This is primarily because of the sexual content and disturbing nature of some scenes. Like the shining, this rules out a less mature audience, as they would most likely lack understanding of the movies concept, and also be adversely affected by the movie.
VotesAverageMales 154,066
8.2Females 50,891 8.3Aged under 18 6,019 8.6Males under 18 3,354 8.7Females under 18 2,576 8.4Aged 18-29 139,677 8.4Males Aged 18-29 101,429 8.4Females Aged 18-29 36,892 8.4Aged 30-44 51,061 8.0Males Aged 30-44 41,294 8.0Females Aged 30-44 9,039 8.0Aged 45+ 9,255 7.5Males Aged 45+ 7,080 7.5Females Aged 45+ 2,035 7.4IMDb staff 48 8.2Top 1000 voters 549 7.7US users 42,907 8.2Non-US users 139,650 8.2 IMDb users 217,673 8.2From the data above, we see that the audience for "Black Swan", like "The Shining", was predominantly male, the majority of which were aged 18-29. Again, this indicates the that the target audience for this movie was or should have been Males between these ages. However, it is notable that the highest rating (average) was given by Males under 18. The movie probably was not aimed at this age group, bearing in mind the certification puts a restriction on under 15's viewing the movie without supervision, leaving only 16-18 years olds as their age range
"The Ring" is certificated 15, however, IMDB has given the movie a recommended viewing age of 13. In the US, the movie was rated PG-13 for frightening and intense scenes. Despite the '15' rating, the recommended viewing age may give the movie a wider audience, and could affect their target audience consequently
VotesAverageMales 78,195
7.1Females 17,592 7.2Aged under 18 1,494 7.3Males under 18 963 7.1Females under 18 522 7.5Aged 18-29 56,821 7.1Males Aged 18-29 44,899 7.1Females Aged 18-29 11,619 7.1Aged 30-44 32,277 7.2Males Aged 30-44 27,431 7.2Females Aged 30-44 4,506 7.2Aged 45+ 5,135 6.9Males Aged 45+ 4,295 7.0Females Aged 45+ 768 6.7IMDb staff 16 7.2Top 1000 voters 758 6.9US users 28,637 7.1Non-US users 63,349 7.1 IMDb users 117,445 7.1Similar to the other movies, this movie has been rated more by Males aged 18-29, however, it should be noted that "Females under 18" gave the movie its highest rating, whilst "Females Ages 45+" gave it its lowest. This may indicate that whilst most of the viewers appeared to be male, the movie was enjoyed more by females, meaning the target audience may have reflected this. With this in mind, the target audience for this movie would be plausible as "Females under 18"
"The Sixth Sense" is similarly certificated as a 15. This rating is somewhat a trend among the movies from this sub-genre that I have come across. This certification is due to what IMDB calls "Frightening and Intense Scenes"
VotesAverageMales 225,993
8.2Females 54,208 8.3Aged under 18 3,397 8.4Males under 18 2,371 8.5Females under 18 998 8.4Aged 18-29 152,795 8.2Males Aged 18-29 120,537 8.2Females Aged 18-29 31,283 8.2Aged 30-44 102,639 8.2Males Aged 30-44 84,699 8.1Females Aged 30-44 16,814 8.3Aged 45+ 21,207 8.2Males Aged 45+ 16,438 8.2Females Aged 45+ 4,462 8.3IMDb staff 51 8.0Top 1000 voters 869 7.9US users 89,134 8.2Non-US users 175,842 8.2 IMDb users 342,089 8.2The majority of votes came from two groups; Males, and Aged 18-29. This indicates a trend among these target audiences, as the other three films I have looked at so far have shown the same. Different to "The Ring", Males Under 18 gave this movie its highest rating. This indicates that our target audience should be targeted at Under 18 Males, however, as noted previously, due to the dense age range available (15 Certification), it would not be plausible to aim our movie at this age group
There are no prizes for guessing the certification for "The Grudge". Identical to the other movies noted, The Grudge is also a 15. This is primarily for the nature of its scenes, and like the other movies, "Frightening and Intense Scenes" is the primary reason for its rating. It contains no sexual contact, very little gore and violence
VotesAverageMales 40,218
5.8Females 9,763 5.7Aged under 18 843 6.0Males under 18 530 5.9Females under 18 307 6.0Aged 18-29 29,553 5.7Males Aged 18-29 23,024 5.7Females Aged 18-29 6,398 5.6Aged 30-44 16,856 5.8Males Aged 30-44 14,188 5.8Females Aged 30-44 2,536 5.8Aged 45+ 2,686 5.9Males Aged 45+ 2,203 5.9Females Aged 45+ 456 5.6IMDb staff 7 6.2Top 1000 voters 583 5.6US users 14,843 5.5Non-US users 33,134 5.8 IMDb users 60,044 5.7The majority of the votes for this movie came from the Males 18-29 category, however, it is noted the movie received its highest rating from the Female Under 18's group. This indicates a trend in the Males 19-29 category, but a slight lean of favouritism from the Female Under 18's
A brief overlook of these movies indicates a trend in terms of audience. Males 18-29 would be a wise choice of audience to target, primarily because my research indicates a trend among this group
There is a vast range of factors that can lead to a certification. I have focussed particularly on the certificate '15', as it is the most applicable to my target audience. Information regarding this certification can be retrieved from www.bbfc.co.uk
’15′
Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
With regards to my media project, I believe we can aim for a certificate 15, if even that. The majority of our studied films are certificated 15, however, I do not believe our film will be as extreme as those. Nudity and Sex will not be a great premise and will not be an integral part of our content. Violence also will not be a concern, as we intend to focus on the psychological aspects of horror. With this in mind however, what may raise the certification is the use of Horror and Language. We intend on developing a strong threat, maybe not so much in the opening 2 minutes, but as the work develops, the threat will in turn develop
With certification in mind and our research in mind, I think it would be wise to target a Male audience, particularly aged 19-29, with content accessible to our Under 18 audience also
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