TARGET AUDIENCEQUESTION 7

SAW 2- TARGET AUDIENCE

RATING= The BBFC has a rating specifically for viewers of age 18 years or over. Saw 2 would be considered as an 18+ rating as it contains ‘strong violence’, ‘frequent strong language’, sexual instances’ and ultimately ‘strong horror. These classifications are put into place in order to offer guidance and provide censorship for younger viewers, so they won’t accidently witness unsuitable content.

GENDER AND ETHNCITY= This trailer could appeal to both genders as it’s main group of characters consists of both males and females, who perhaps the audience could relate to and empathise with. These characters can be seen in the panel of pictures to the right. The trailer practices Goffmans character types including the protagonist (lead character who leads the group away or to something), the fool and the damsel in distress type character. This trailer also features characters of different ethnicities to engage a wider audience and to encourage empathy etc.

SOCIAL GROUP= Saw 2 trailer is available freely online, and the film is popular all across the world , and was screened in various cinemas all across the country at an affordable price. Therefore, you could say any social group would be inclined to watch the trailer and the film, however I’d suggest it was targeted more at group C2 and below, as these types of people would probably enjoy a thrill and could perhaps relate to the characters and the genre a lot more than the higher social groups.

HOW DOES THE SAW 2 TRAILER APPEAL TO ITS TARGET AUDIENCE?

The Saw 2 trailer appeals initially to it’s target audience by showing a variety of different characters of all different ages (over the ages of 18 due to the rating), ethnicities, sexualities, genders, social statuses and personalities(Goffman’s character types), as the on the previous slide, that the audience can relate to and empathise with.

As the film is a psychological thriller in the horror genre, the target audience will also be ideally interested in horror and be ‘thrill seekers’, which is common in younger people. Therefore by showing extreme violence, gore and props such as weapons in the trailer, will appeal to the target audience. This can be seen in the two images below.

I personally think this trailer would appeal more to males especially ones that play graphic video games such as Call of Duty or GTA as some of the themes displayed in them, are in this trailer including strong violence and frequent strong language. Also this feature portrays the males as being dominant and the alpha male character saving the women, therefore younger men may relate to it whilst watching it.

HOW WILL THIS TRAILER AFFECT MY TRAILER AND ITS TARGET AUDIENCE?

I feel that this trailer wont be the main inspiration for my trailer as it’s contains too much graphic violence and gore, that it is sometimes disturbing and I feel off-putting (being a female- not generally), and we want our trailer to appeal to both genders.

My target audience is going to be 15-35 (and above). I have chosen to rate it as 15 as it wont contain frequent strong language or sexual instances and will not be as graphic and violent. Therefore I feel a 15 rating is much more suitable. This also allows me to appeal to a wider audience.

The characters in my film are going to be teenagers, therefore a 15 rating is better suited, as they can relate to them too.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD- TARGET AUDIENCE

RATING= This trailer and film is rated 18+ by BBFC, however doesn’t contain ‘sexual instances’ or ‘frequent strong language’, but does contain a lot of strong horror and gore and an element of violence i.e. the extreme weapons used (guns etc). However, this film was made and released over 25 years ago, and BBFC weren’t as strict with their guidelines and ratings then, so perhaps if this film was rereleased in the 21st century it would be classified as a 15+.

GENDER AND ETHNICITY= Likewise the Saw 2 trailer, this trailer contains both genders equally and a variety of ethnicities. Again this helps the viewers to relate and ascribe themselves a character they’d be like perhaps. It also helps to appeal to a wider audience. I think it would be aimed at both genders as the main female character is seen as strong and heroic (image to the right), which most women would like to see from a female lead character as its unconventional. Also, as it’s a classic it’s less gender biased.

SOCIAL GROUP= When this film was released it was probably aimed at B2 and below. I think it’s higher than Saw because it is a remake of an old classic, therefore an older more established audience perhaps interested in higher culture, would appreciate this film and want to see it.

HOW WILL THIS TRAILER AFFECT MY TRAILER AND ITS TARGET AUDIENCE?

This trailer is particularly useful if we choose to do a zombie horror trailer, as inspiration. This is because it’s not overly gory and graphic, which our trailer won’t be as it’s targeted at a younger audience (15+ rather than 18+).

We will also include different ethnicities and an equal spread of gender in our trailer, but perhaps not age, as I’m planning on focussing on a group of teenagers. I feel this trailer represented different types of people and personality well according to Propp’s character theory, and we will try to achieve this too.

THE DEAD- TARGET AUDIENCE

RATING= This trailer and film is rated by BBFC and 18+, as it contains all of the elements previously mentioned that qualify for an age classification of 18+. This trailer in particular, compared the other two trailers, has a more realistic narrative and the graphics, violence and gore appears more realistic, therefore and 18+ rating seems appropriate.

GENDER AND ETHNICITY= This trailer seems to show primarily male characters, mostly being brave and courageous and heroic figures. Therefore, this film would be targeted at predominately males. It also features elements of military action and other elements from sub-genres of warfare, gangs and crime films. Likewise, the other two trailers this film features a variety of ethnicities from Arabian, Indian to African American. Therefore the viewers can relate to the characters and a wider audience will be interested.

SOCIAL GROUP= I feel this trailer would be aimed at more mature teenagers maybe who play video games such as Call of duty and GTA as it features common themes including strong violence, language and gore. However, I also feel it is targeted at older males who are perhaps in the social class group of B2 to C2 (not D or E), because the narrative in the trailer is constructed through micro narratives and seems hard to understand, and could be easily misunderstood and therefore not enjoyed as much, by someone below C2. It could also require knowledge of war films and gang culture perhaps to understand the narrative fully.

HOW WILL THIS TRAILER AFFECT MY TRAILER AND ITS TARGET AUDIENCE?

As this film and trailer are from an independent film company, the story has more meaning and depth to it and this is clearly portrayed in the trailer through micro narratives and the voice over. Therefore, their target audience will be from a higher social group perhaps who are perhaps interested in independent films and filmmakers, or just people who are interested in these things.

This trailer is different to our trailer in terms of target audience because we will be aiming ours at 15+ and mainly from the ages of 15-35+, and this film could easily stretch far beyond people the age of 35 watching it. This film is also more gender biased I feel, therefore we will make our trailer aimed at both genders equally by featuring characters of both genders having lead roles that the viewers could perhaps relate to.