Review Target Audience

Research

What kind of magazine do you think this review would be for?

This tells me I have been successful in creating arepresentation of the magazine Sight & Sound formy review. These were my intentions as theaudience of Sight & Sound fit the demographic ofmy audience – therefore achieving the samelayout, style and writing means that I can accessthe right audience. However, this also tells methat it may be too similar and that I could possiblychallenge the conventions of layout and style a bitmore.

From these responses, it informs me that the stylelayout and writing is successful in reaching out toa ‘high brow’ / ‘higher media literate’ audience.However, the point was raised that potentiallybecause of the sophisticated language it could actas a barrier to a mainstream audience andbecause my film is attracting a thriller audience aswell, this is something I need to take into accountwhen re-drafting.

Is the review balanced or is it biased? Explain in either case.

All of the responses agree that thereview is much more biased thenbalanced and this isn't authentic of ahighly reputable film magazine andshould include more constructivecriticism to show how the magazinereally is supplying to an audience thatexpects impeccable quality of product.

How effective are the images that accompany the review?

From these responses, it tells me thatthe images are effective inaccompanying the review because theygive a sense of location and filmcontent. They have also been labeled assecretive and enigmatic which theparticipants said worked well as it addsto the creepiness of the film and it alsodoesn’t give too much of the film awayand makes you want to read moreabout it.

This response explains that the imagesare a great representation of the thrillergenre, which works well in informing myaudience the type of style it will bebefore reading the review.

What is the relationship between the images and text?

The participants all understood that therelationship between the text andimagery is that it is film content andtextual imagery, therefore this hasworked successfully in providing theaudience with a taster of understandingwhat the film itself will be like.

After reading the review, why would you want to see the film and why wouldn’t you want to see the film?

Positives as to why the participants wouldwant to see the film is because they havesaid the story sounds ‘interesting anddifferent’ and they find the mystery behindthe man curious to know more. Therefore Ibelieve that informing the participants of thestory works well in interesting them.However, participants wouldn’t see the filmdominantly because of the reviews constantspoilers about the story and plot as there istoo much detail and therefore it ruins thefilm for the audience who haven't seen it.This means that I will need to reduce thedetail of the plot and story and also notreference details directly, as indirectreferences allow the audience to piecetogether the characters and relationshipbetween them, it also allows them to get asense of style and plot without revealing toomuch.

Does the review give you insight into the director’s work?

All participants believe that it does givean insight into the directors work andspecifically ‘his dark nature and creativeinsight into dark situations’ which allowsthe audience to understand that thedirector is somewhat established.However, one participant believes itwould be useful to directly compare thedirectors work; for example, “if you likethis… then you will like this…” which Ibelieve is something I could add to myreview in order to allow my audience asense of the directors style subtly.

Does the review give you insight into the director’s work?

Participants have noted themes andissues of love, stranger danger,drug/alcohol abuse, loneliness, isolationand loss. However, one participantexplained that the review can be tooreveling at times; therefore I believe tofix this, description should be moresubtle allowing participants to decodethe story themselves.

What type of film viewer is this aimed at?

All participants have described theviewer as mature (or 25-45) and haveexplain that they think this because theviewer must have an education in mediaand should be interested in differenttypes of film rather than justmainstream and labeling the viewer as aniche audience member. Oneparticipant said ‘similar to the audienceof the magazine’ meaning that theybelieve the choice of magazine matchesthe target audience.

Does the review give a sense of story and plot?

All participants confess that there is toomuch detail of story and plot within thereview and gives away too manypotential spoilers, this something thaturgently needs to be changed as it willdishearten a lot of potential viewers ifthey already aware of what is going tohappen and how it is going to happen.Description must be enhance so that itis more secretive and leaves the readerinformed but unaware.

Is the genre discussed effectively?

All participants believe that the genre isdiscussed effectively and understandthat is a product of the social realismgenre. However, not all participantsunderstand that it is part thriller andtherefore this something that I couldhighlight a bit more.

Is there anything the review doesn’t cover or could cover?

Participants believe that the review could cover more about thecharacters, the similarities between the directors work, the releasedate, themes and issues could be clearer and the outside relationshipthat the director has with his actors. I believe that explaining theoutside relationship that the director has with the actors could be agreat point to make as it creates a deeper sense of social realism.Also, comparing the directors previous work is something that Ibelieve will defiantly enhance the review as it adds subtlety andallows the audience to gather a sense of the directors style of work.