Question 5How did you attract/address your audience and

what did you include within your film to excite or intrigue audiences?

ResearchIn order to make a successful film we had to conduct different types of research before making a storyboard. We decided to conduct an interview in which had two focus groups as well. The questions we asked included;

• Do you like horror films and why?• What is your favourite horror film and why?• What do you want to see more of in horror films and why?• Are there any aspects of horror films you don’t like and why?• Would you like to see more horror films in the cinemas and why?• Do you have a favourite subgenre, if so what is it and why?• What was the last horror film you watched and what did you like and dislike about it?

The main findings that we received from interviewing the range of people was the preferred subgenre. We found that everyone we interviewed liked horror films because they create suspense and enigma throughout the film and allows them to be able to keep guessing with what will happen which builds tension. Also, the majority of people said that psychological horror films are their preferred subgenre of horror films because they create mind games throughout the film from start to finish. We obtained varied results for what they want to see more of in horror films because some people said they prefer to have more blood and gore whereas others said that they would like to see more of the mind games and audience involvement. With this is mind we decided to draft and collaborate a few ideas until we reached our end result.

GenreWe chose the horror genre as we thought it would be easier to appeal to the masses as generally speaking our target audience would predominantly watch horror movies for the same reason – they want to put themselves out of their comfort zone and be on the edge of their seat. We did research into our target audience and found that because the primary audiences were under the age of 35, we thought it would be easier to make something younger age groups would find interesting but also entertaining. We took our findings from our research and decided that a psychological horror was quite possibly one of the best routes to take as we had many ideas ourselves however we also wanted to see an increase in these types of films on the market, much like our target audience did.

Storyline Our storyline was quite complex and had linking sections however it was most certainly a film that an audience would have to watch all the way through to understand what happened and for what reason. The story line is very audience focused and the audience are able to piece together parts of the film is it is shown to determine what will happen next, though whether they’re right or wrong will depend at how good they are at piecing together the information and predicting the storyline. We choose to have a storyline in which used reverse chronology as it was the best way to present our film but also would entice the audience to watch on as only a handful of films use this, let alone horror films.

Technical Choices Our technical choices varied depending on the shot and the atmosphere of the scene we wanted to obtain. For example we used match cuts to show the continuous motion of movement in the same direction and also to keep the action flowing. However other technical choices we made such as was to use different variations of both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to allow the audience to distinguish the genre but also make sure the sound was correct for what we needed, such as having music to build suspense for example. The music we used was enigmatic and allowed us to convey a sense of mystery within our opening and closing scenes. We also decided to use filters on our film to make sure it had a cinematic feel and therefore would look greater in film quality and appeal to our audience. When doing the point of view shots (POV) we decided to include black ‘flashes’ to make it look like Joel was blinking to add realism to the POV shots. This realism makes the audience feel more like they are in the setting and have more involvement to the film because it connotes that they need to see the world from Joel’s perspective.

Casting For our casting we needed to have life-like resemblances of what our characters would move, talk and act like. So we decided that we had to cast people in which fell under the right age category to ensure it didn’t look like a 17 year old was playing the part of a 35 year old man for example. Therefore we casted Ryan, a middle aged man to play the role of Joel and also casted his daughter Megan to play the role of Bonnie. The fact that the two actors are biologically related ensures that they can both get into character quickly, easily and comfortably and the emotions that were represented would be a lot easier to obtain and to show on screen.

Mise-en-sceneThroughout our film we included a range of mise-en-scene in which would create enigma however would become clear later on. Mise-en-scene uses ‘CLAMPS’ ; costume, lighting, actor, make-up, props and setting. Our use of these ensured that we kept the audience entertained as we specifically used individual aspects of mise-en-scene for different shots. For example each shot had different lighting to ensure that there was the right atmosphere for the setting. Another example would be that of the costume we used as this would help establish the social class of the different characters and would also establish enigma. The only prop we used was that of the noose in the ending scene and the iconography of it would symbolise that Joel’s fate ends here.

Uses and Gratification TheoryWe thought about the uses and gratifications theory during our planning and research and when conducting our script and storyboard we decided to take elements from it and include it within our film to make it more than just entertainment. Alongside the entertainment we decided to make sure our film could inform and educate the audience about mental health and the problems and stigma that can surround it. We also had a sense of escapism in our media product because of the film’s setting and the different thought processes that the characters would have, as well as the audience when trying to piece together the storyline and what may happen next. We also had elements of social interaction as the topics covered will have sparked conversation between audience members after the showing of the film and those that have seen it can relate to one another and possibly discuss topics raised in the film.

Barthes Codes TheoryBarthes said that there is one or more of 5 codes within a piece of narrative and it can also be open or closed narrative. These codes are;• Hermeneutic – Enigma code: refers to mysteries within the narrative and clues are

dropped however there is no clear answer. Therefore ensures the audience want to watch on.

• Proairetic – Action code: adds suspense as there are elements of action in the narrative.

• Semantic code: this refers to parts within the narrative in which have additional meanings and so can connote several meanings to something other than its literal meaning.

• Symbolic code: about symbolism within narrative and can show contrasts to create greater meaning, tension, drama and character development.

• Referential code: this refers to outside knowledge such as scientific, historical and cultural knowledge.

Within our film opening we included references to Barthes’ codes and followed some of the principles.

ConclusionIn conclusion we managed to attract/address our target audience by ensuring we used elements of the Gratification theory as well as Barthes’ Codes Theory and the use of an effective storyline. Our choice of content enabled us to engage the audience from the start and also allowed the audience to establish the genre. The use of music also helped to establish this. The characters we cast were authentic for the role and so we were able to convey some realism of a family and so connected to the target audience and was able to show emotions that some of the audience would have experienced clearly. The ability to do this made sure that the audience connected to the film and the characters within it.