1. Evaluation Question Five
How did you attract/address your audience?
In order to fully attract and address our audience, I made sure I knew what they wanted to see within a
zombie film opening, a hybrid genre of thriller, suspense and horror. We did this by conducting target
audience interviews and investigating their "profile" to ensure we included everything we could be
interest them.
When interviewing, we asked the following questions:
Name,Age and Occupation?
What do you enjoy about zombie films and why?
Is there anything that you think could be added to the zombie genre?
Do you think the zombie genre is better as a hybrid or on its own? What other genres would
you like to see incorporated into the zombie genre?
What is your favourite film within the genre?
What character types would you like to see in zombie films?
Are there any specific zombie film openings you like and why?
Is there any outdated elements in zombie films that you think shouldn’t be used anymore and
why?
Is there anything you dislike in zombie films?
Our Primary Target Audience was males over thirty-five. We
wanted to include as many males as we could within our target
audience interviews to make sure we found out enough to interest
the audience. I spoke to one individual from our primary target
audience, and they said that they'd prefer to see more female
characters involved, and the female characters should be able to
stand up for themselves rather than having a male fight her battles
for her. There should also be a wide range of character types -
anything from a young child to an elderly couple and anything in
between. Our TA would like these included so our film opening
does not become mundane and stereotypical like some other films
that have been produced. They also believed that suspense is the
key to ensure that the film opening is a success; without the use of
suspense the film would not be interesting and many would find it
a bore which is not what we want.
Our Secondary Target Audience was females under thirty-five. It is also important to include this side
of our target audience within our research as then it is possible for
us to reach a wider audience when the film is advertised. I
interviewed an individual that was keen on watching zombie films
as I felt like this could give us an advantage to see what someone in
our secondary demographic would like to see. She said that she
liked the idea of natural survival, to see what a “normal” person
would to in an extraordinary situation and how their natural
survival instincts would kick in. She also said that stereotypical
2. zombies (zombies that walk slow and without a sense of direction) is a no, as they make the
atmosphere of the film seem more comedy-styled rather than straight forward zombie genres.
With this research in mind, the group moved the process along by making a pitch that was suitable for
our target demographic. The pitch enabled us to put our ideas across to a large sample group and get
feedback that would be useful later on in the progress, even though the group we pitched to were not
part of our primary or secondary target audience. Despite this, we were able to get back feedback that
would be beneficial for us. To attract our audience, we have to focus on the technical choices we
make, the film content we include, the actors we cast,as well as the titles and genre of the film.
Technical Choices
Our target demographic stated that they wanted suspense within our film opening so they could stay
interested throughout. With this in mind during the filming process,we managed to add in enough
suspense to keep our audience interested, as well as
creating enigma within the first instance.
Throughout the whole of the two minute opening,
there was music and sound effects to add to the
tension. The music included some dramatic pauses and
the sound effects included heart beats.
The sound effects and music that we used were all
from royalty free websites, which meant we were free
to use them and have no copyright inflictions. I chose
to use sound effects as not only did these add enigma,
they added suspense which is what our target
demographic wanted to keep them interested. We also
decided to include stereotypical and common
conventions of a zombie genre to ensure that our
audience were disorientated when they began to watch. An example of this would be the image shown
directly above. The use of static from a TV losing signal is disorientating to the audience because they
are not sure what is going to happen next or what is going to appear on screen,thus creating suspense
as they wait and watch the storyline unfold. Not only did we think about this for the editing process,
but we also thought about the time of the day that something would be filmed. If our film opening was
to flip from day to night and then back again, it would
confuse the audience and make them feel as if what is
going out is out of their control.
During filming we also considered how the audience
would feel dependant on what camera shot they were
looking at. When filming, we decided to experiment
with camera angles and shots, not necessarily sticking to
the shot list that we had drawn up in the planning weeks.
We used handheld shots and low angle shots to represent
different things. The handheld shot represented the
disorientation of the viewer and what they should be
feeling (in this case,majorly confusion), thus enhancing
their position as a member of an audience. The low
3. angle shot that was used represented and accentuated the idea that the zombies were more dominant
so they had the right to look down upon the audience rather than the audience looking down on the
zombie, which would give off the complete wrong message.
If we were going to include shots where in which you could see what the actor was wearing or how
they looked, we had to consider mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is an important part of any media
product as it is effectively, the foundations for what the visuals are going to look like. Without
planning these, there is a large risk that the product could not work how you would want it to.
Mise-en-scene contributed to the suspense and enigma that we wanted to create at the end of our
finished media product. We used referential sings through clothing to demonstrate to the audience that
the zombies were dangerous, and certain genders were more vulnerable than others. By looking at
these the audience will see that something bad is going to happen because of the mixture of colours
and connotations that they give away. Whenever a zombie is on screen,their costumes are generally
more matted and torn than any other characters,and this is due to the struggle that they may have
faced before they became a zombie or even after they
became a zombie. If the zombie was male, then he
would be in dark black clothing to show that he is/was
corrupt and that he was easily infected by the virus.
Whereas if the zombie was female, they would
typically be wearing lighter clothing, more white than
anything else. The use of white clothing can connote
their innocence, but it can also represent death because
after you die, white is seen as becoming pure. The clothing can also add to the enigma of the media
product as the audience is not told what profession the individual was in prior to the zombie
apocalypse. The lighting within my media product also creates enigma. Throughout different points in
the two minute opening, there are moments where we see high and low key lighting, as well as natural
lighting. All these different types of lighting that we have used create enigma because they can mean
different things. For example, the natural lighting can mean safety – but the way in which we have
used natural lighting can confuse our target
demographic as there is the use of danger. This is
usually used in low key lighting. Therefore,the use
of lighting challenges the generic convention,
ultimately confusing our target demographic and
creating enigma. The actors that we have used have
been styled around what our target audience wanted
to see,thus keeping them interesting in what we are
displaying to them. There are many roles within our film opening, from a news reporter to a small
zombie child. These roles that the actors play will intrigue the audience as they will not be aware of
what to expect and although some may be able to relate to certain roles seen within our media
product, there is a high chance that enigma and suspense will be created as the majority of the target
demographic will not be able to relate to the roles and thus wonder what is going to happen and
wonder why they are so significant. The use of make up within our piece is dramatically and
increasingly significant as without it, our piece would not look at all realistic nor would it look
professional. The make-up used does not create enigma, but it does create a sense of suspense because
the knowledge that the audience should have on zombies will mean that they know that they are
dangerous and thus should not be messed with. With this bared in mind, the target audience will know
that whenever they see a zombie something bad is going to happen to whoever is involved. The props
4. that we used during this process amplify the idea
of a dystopia. The use of a pram suggests that
anyone can be a victim of the apocalypse, no
matter how old or young an individual is. The use
of cigarettes used by the teenagers connotes to the
audience that despite the rapid changes that had
happened, there is still some normality in what
survivors to daily. We used severalsettings, and this could show to the audience that the disease is not
just confined to one area – it’s something that has the potential to turn into an epidemic issue with
little chance of finding a cause.
Storyline
Through the use of our storyline we hoped that we would attract our target audience. Through our
research,we found that a lot of members from our target demographic wanted zombies that did not
meet the stereotypical convention of a zombie and they wanted to see suspense. With this in mind
during planning, we decided to start our film opening with something enigmatic which would keep
the audience guessing. The news reports that would be “broadcasted” would not specifically say what
was happening and this created suspense. As the film opening progressed, more and more would be
revealed to the audience which not only destroys the enigma we initially intended to make, but the
lack of enigma would be replaced with suspense as the audience would be greeted with a situation that
they would not personally know how to deal with.
Uses and Gratification Theory
One of the big things that influenced us was the Uses and Gratification Theory. This theory involves
aspects as entertainment, social interaction, escapism, inform/educate and identify. To include an
element of this theory within any genre of film allows the audience to attract and appeal to the film,
thus making them want to watch the film until the end. Within our film opening, we included aspects
of escapism and partially entertainment. I included elements of escapism as it is important for the
audience to “escape to another world”. This could be shown through the use of the news reports or the
zombie attacks as it is in this moment that the audience can potentially put themselves in the victims
shoes and wonder what it would be like if it was them. We also included elements of entertainment so
they target demographic can enjoy themselves whilst watching the film opening.
Setting
We used various different settings within our film opening. We did this because we felt as if it would
not only disorientate the audience but it would show them that the apocalypse is more of an epidemic
rather than something that is more local to home. The use of different locations within our film
opening meets but also challenges the typical generic conventions of a zombie genre. It meets the
conventions because it shows that anyone can be affected by what is happening but it also challenges
the convention because most zombie films are remote to one location rather than a series of different
ones.
5. Titles
We decided to use different titles throughout our film
opening to follow typical zombie film conventions. The
very first title that the audience see is the studio logo,
which helps with advertising. We did not have a solid
idea of what we wanted our studio logo to be at the
beginning of the editing process; we felt as if the logo
should fit in with our genre but afterwards we decided
that perhaps it would be a good idea to challenge this
convention, so our studio logo does not fit particularly
well with our genre, but at the same time fits well
because it keeps the audience guessing.
Then we used titles to credit who did what, including
some of the actors and the editing director as well as the
director themselves. I did this to follow typical generic
conventions which will draw in and intrigue the
audience. The font that we used fitted with that of the
news reporters and therefore met a convention.
I decided only to include the names of actors at the
beginning, and only those who played a significant role.
This challenges the typical conventions of our genre but
I felt like it would create suspense for our target
audience, thus choosing to keep them in. the three
names displayed at the beginning are the only names of the actors we see. The rest of the titles
displayed are a production company and then the editor, producer and director.
The final title that is shown is the title of the film,
“Immunity”. I decided to do this because not only
does it inform the audience what the film is called, but
it also leaves the connotations of what it means to
them in their minds whilst they start watching. The
font and colour of the title was used to create a feeling
of danger and uncertainty, since the colour is red and
red is associated with danger, whilst the font appears
all over the place which also connotes danger and disorientation.
Casting
We decided that we was not going to show the main
characters in our film opening like we originally
planned to as it would add to the enigma of who the
storyline is about and who we were going to follow
as an audience. We casted different people with
different roles in today’s society to ensure that the
audience would see that the virus represents a wide
range of people, not just individuals local to Market
6. Rasen. The news reporters typically were older than other cast members. This was because they
would appear more knowledgeable and therefore seem as if they know what they are talking about. It
can also be said that by casting older individuals as a
news reporter it will reflect our target audience and, as
a result of this, the target demographic will be able to
relate to the individual. I believe that the news reporter
represents our target audience because they are usually
over thirty-five, from a middle class background and
prefer to what more in depth films than others. We
then decided to cast younger individuals as the
zombies as this would represent our secondary target audience since they would be under thirty-five.
By doing this, I believe that it would be beneficial for us as it will attract both our target audiences.
Genre
As a group, we conducted a range of research into films that are of the zombie genre, looking at films
that were both a zombie-hybrid or a straight forward zombie genre film. I did this research so I was
able to look at typical conventions of the films and begin to think about how we could include them in
our media product to attract our target demographic. Following on from this, we then looked into
further research by conducting interviews with focus groups and individuals that met our target
bracket. The questions previously stated were the ones that we asked each individual that was
interviewed. With this in mind what they wanted to see during the planning process,we made sure to
include specific things that would, again, attract our target audience. This was things like running
zombies and natural survival. By including specific things that they wanted to see,it would be more
likely that our target audience would want to watch our media product.
Marketing
I would want my film to be marketed by an independent distributor as typically, our film would have
a niche audience and marketing base than other films. Specifically, I chose “Curzon Artificial Eye” as
our independent distributor because,although they cover a wide range of genres, they have distributed
films that have been nominated for an Oscar which shows that our film has potential to be recognised
by a larger target audience. If our film was to e recognised then there is a higher chance that we would
earn more money than some other films that have been produced.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have managed to appeal and attract our target audience by following typical generic
zombie conventions, but also considering how to be creative during the editing process as to how the
film and the scenes within it would be represented. An example would be the titles – they have been
presented in a way which meets typical conventions, but they also challenged conventions because of
how they look. The colour of the font would suggest innocence and purity; something which the film
isn’t really focussed upon. We were also able to appeal to our target demographic because,like they
asked, we included zombies that could run and added suspense in at certain moments.
