Audience Profile & Audience Analysis

Audience Profile; Age, Gender, Social Class, Ideologies & Content

As we aim to produce a social realist film looking at the everyday struggles facing socially and economically deprived youths, in this case a female youth, our target audience needs to be able to relate to the concept as well as connect with the character and the situations that she finds herself in throughout the film. Due to the content of the film also including violence, alcoholism and quite intense dramatised scenes, we decided to certify our film as a 15 and therefore our film will firstly have to be targeted at those in society over the age of 15 due to age restrictions associated with content viewing. This therefore gives a good starting place, as the lead character herself is still currently at school (sixth form) and therefore this age restriction means that the starting age for our audience will be at the same age as the character, allowing more in depth relatability between text and text receiver.

The primary target audience is youths, teenagers and young adults, generally aged 15-21, as they will be of a similar age to the characters and will face money problems of their own, along with the difficulties of home and school life which can be associated with employment being at such a low rate at the current climate of our society. I think that the target audience will be both male and female as females will be able to relate directly to the emotional aspects of the film and connect with Erin, the lead character on a personal level, but will also be of interest and relevance to males, due to the violence and action that Erin pursues as a way of escapism and gaining power. Sexuality is not really an issue that I feel will affect the film as the lead character takes on both male and female gender roles within the film and therefore the film is not gender biased or gender specific.

As the film is to be set in the inner city area of London or another large city within the UK, the youths that are from a similar background will therefore have more knowledge of the difficulties of the area in terms of social class and employment and will therefore be more likely to want to view the film as it tackles issues that affect them in reality. The target audience will have therefore all been through secondary education and will have an understanding of the clueless minds of teachers and the cliques and peer groups that control the school and will have some understanding of bullying and its effects.

The rebellious side of youth that most teenagers and youths go through from the age of 15 up will also give them relation to the character and they are likely to share views that 'life is unfair' and the government somewhat rejects and ignores the youth of its country, and any publicity or attention that is given is usually negative and the after effects create even more problems for a generation that is already in trouble. I think that the target audience will have a shared like for music, whether it be R 'n' B, rap, grime, indie, rock or any contemporary style, will also be knowledgeable and concerned with their appearance and fashion and main hobby will be focus on socializing rather than educational and employment aspects of their life. They may also like films from the comedy, horror and action genres due to the excitement they provoke, which may be something they crave in their own lives.

The secondary target audience would be those aged over 21 who may have employment and children of their own and therefore watch the film for its documentary style approach to the problems in Erin's life and for the more mature viewers, use the film as a way of trying to understand the problems faced by their own children in the contemporary UK or simply try to understand the negative behaviour patterns that some youths choose or are forced to take on. This therefore means that the adult target audience age group is very broad as people of all ages, social positions and genders may watch the film as a way of trying to connect with and gain an understanding of the UK’s youth. They may watch the film as a way of trying to bridge the generation gap which has been created and reinforced by the negative publicity that the government and the UK’s media has spread and hyped up about the youths of our society. This target audience may also like films in the genre of documentary, other social realist films as well as thriller films due to the 'real' scenario's the films try to portray and the seriousness they take on.

Audience Analysis; Understanding, Interest & Environment

1)Understanding;

The viewer will recognise that the film tackles realistic aspects of society but will also know that social realism is a dramatised and somewhat worst case scenario of reality, which tries to stay as close to reality and a correct view of the subject as possible without causing offense of making it appear too dramatised. The viewer will therefore also, from experience, have knowledge that the subjects and content within these films are usually at either end of the spectrum of our social class, stereotypes, gender and so on and use bold examples. The audience will also know that thriller films create tense atmospheres with usually harsh content and a twist that either creates a 'happy' ending or a dimmer one.

They will expect of course the narrative to flow and to make sense, as they would with any genre of film, however with thriller films more information can be left out as a way of keeping enigma and sustaining suspense within the film and will have some understanding of the situations faced by the lead character Erin, due to own personal experience of teenage life, school and home life, and will therefore be able to relate to the emotions and decisions that she goes through to try and change herself and her life for the better, which somewhat back fires.

2)Interest;

The audience would watch the film due to the content being relevant to them. The primary target audience of youths would be facing similar problems and situations in their own lives, even if they may not be quite as extreme or as negative, this still will allow them to connect with the character, empathise with her and relate to the situations themselves. The secondary target audience of adults, predominantly parents, would be interested in the film as a way of gaining an insight into the problems their own children may face, as many children and teenagers find it difficult or refuse to talk to their parents about problems, and this film would offer parents a way of understanding and giving them more knowledge when approaching their own children. This therefore makes my film valid as it is relevant to the contemporary society, as many youths from inner city areas that are economically deprived face problems with home life and problems within education and may feel trapped and this film therefore gives an example of how things can get too much for some people.

3)Environment;

The film trailer will be shown on the television, on Channel 4, between programs such as; 'Skins', ‘The Inbetweeners’ and 'Shameless' and will therefore be shown after the water shed as these programs contain a similar content of drug use, alcohol abuse, bullying, school life, social life of youths and family problems, including violence and debt and therefore my film would fit in perfectly with the target audience of these programs and would attract more people to watch it being shown in between programs with such a similar content. The film trailer will also be shown online, being put onto YouTube and also being spread virally through social network sites like Facebook and Twitter to gain access to a large proportion of the UK’s youth, as social networking has become such a large and dominant part of youth culture and popular contemporary culture.

The film itself will be shown in the cinema with a certificate of 15 and will have the most viewings been shown on a Wednesday, due to the wide spread use of 2 for 1 orange Wednesday tickets, which are widely used by youths who may face difficulties with money due to their age and social position and this will therefore put the film in good stead for the target audience being able to afford the viewing of the film, due to the reduced prices on Wednesdays at many cinemas across the country. For the promotion of the film the best area's for advertisement; in terms of posters, billboards and fliers, would be large urban cities such as; London, Manchester, Birminham and Liverpool, where gang crime is failry high and poverty amogst the inner cities areas also fairly prominent, with employment levels being so low and living costs being so high in the current climate of the country.