Defining Our Audience

Targeting an audience is one of the key aspects to planning our thriller. As a group we must establish a specific audience as this will enable us to make our thriller film as effective as we possibly can. We looked at some different theories in order to help us gain a better understanding about how to target the correct audience.

In 1974 Bulmer and Katz developed a theory, ‘uses and gratifications’. This theory suggests that audiences USE media texts for various reasons…

1)Diversion (escapism):  To escape from everyday life.
2)Personal relationships (social interaction):  Use media text for emotional and other interaction e.g. using soaps instead of family life.
3)Personal identity:  To create their own identity from characters/celebrities in media texts, and learning behaviour and values.
4)Entertainment: As a means of relaxation, enjoyment and emotional release. Purely for the fun of the experience.
5)Surveillance (information):  To gain info and knowledge.

Another theory is the Life Matrix tool, which defines audience categories around values and beliefs. These are categorized into...

1)Tribe Wired - Free spirited, creative young singles.
2)Fun/Atics - Aspirational, fun seeking young people.
3)Dynamic Duos - Hard-driving, high-involvement couples.
4)Priority Parents - Family values, active
5)Home Soldiers - Family orientated, ambitious.
6)Renaissance Women - Active, caring, influential mums.
7)Rugged Traditionalists - Traditional male values.
8)Struggling Singles - High aspirations, low status.
9)Settled Elders - Older lifestyles.
10)Free Birds - Vital, activists.

How will we apply the Uses and Gratifications theory to our thriller?

Our thriller film is going to provoke emotion from our target audience meaning that they will be able to be able to relate to the media text. It will be a way of expressing ideas about morals and modern life, as well as being used for social interaction as it will encourage discussion between audiences and it will also give our audience a chance to escape from everyday life and delve into a new exciting world of thrills. It could also be watched purely for entertainment purposes in order to get enjoyment out of it or thrill.