"Perceptions of the requirements of the target market, whether it is audiences or middlemen like distributors, exert a profound influence on film content and the film types from which content is drawn."
- Blood Money by Richard Nowell (ch1. p27)
The genre of the film is a teen slasher, the post analysing the genre conventions is linked here.
Although we had a clear target audience in mind, Sasha and I created an audience survey, to research attitudes towards horror films within different demographics. My post on the slasher audience is linked here.
Age:
The primary target is 15-24+, as the film genre is a teen slasher, there are specific conventions of the genre, which primarily appeal to teenagers. The genre follows specific character archetypes that are usually teenagers, or in their early 20s. The circumstances of the narrative, that usually revolve around school, house parties, and underage drinking or sex, allow for a teenage audience to personally identify with the characters.
The horror producer Don Borchers said: "if you get the audience to identify with young teens in trouble and you do a knife movie, its always going to work." (BM CH1. P18)
Our film opening narrative focuses on teenagers going to a party, and the next day at school. The characters focus on typical teen problems such as relationships, friends, and school. This allows the primary audience to identify (UGT) themselves within the characters, and appeal to them.
However, as an indie horror filmmaker, I would have to adhere to the BBFC or MPAA guidelines for a 15 rating. Through my research and comparison of the film companies Working Title (a subsidiary of the vertically integrated conglomerate Universal), and indie Warp, I have noticed a harsher age restriction on lower budget movies, for similar or less severe depictions, compared to a high budget film.
Our secondary target age is 25-44+. To appeal to this age group, our full film would include older actors in the roles of parents, teachers, or police. This was used in the films: Cherry Falls (2000), Halloween (1978), and Scream (1992). We are also including a lot of intertextual references from older films, which could appeal to older audiences.
A key element in creating the opening is to maintain a strictly 15 rating, and avoid an 18. This box office analysis shows how harsher age ratings negatively impact box office performance, which is vital for the film's success. However, although cinema age ratings are strictly enforced, due to streaming services (Web 2.0, O'Reilly), younger viewers are able to access a film without being of age. While this means the film could still be relatively successful, it is important to prioritise the box office performance.
This post covers a comparison of age ratings and explains classifications in further detail, as well as a genre specific comparison, linked here.
Gender:
Our primary target is females, specifically due to the female protagonists of the film, and our inspiration from Jennifer's Body (2009) and Heathers (1998).
After our audience survey, we found women to be less interested in horror, and the slasher genre, but found female targeted horror films appealing. The main reason women found slasher unappealing, was due to the negative portrayal of female characters in the film, something we are attempting to avoid by blurring character tropes.
Another way to positively represent female characters is through the Bechdel Test, seen in our opening when Laurie and Mandy talk about Marion's disappearance at their locker.
However, the horror genre is usually evenly split by audiences, as seen in this survey by morbidlybeautiful.
This shows the importance of character representation for a secondary male audience. We are doing this by including male characters, and narrative enigma (Barthes) around the identity of the killer.
Class:
Our aim is to appeal to all class audiences. However, we are using certain techniques to specifically cater to certain groups.
Slasher films are typically viewed as pop-culture, and cater to a C1C2DE audience. As our film is not social realist, or revolving around working class characters, our characters would belong to the C1C2 group. The accents in the film are international and easily understood, and don't denote any specific regions, further broadening the appeal.
To appeal to a highbrow or arthouse, ABC1 audience, we are relying on the use of intertextual references, as the films referenced are considered to be horror cult classics.
Nationality:
The characters of the film have international accents, mixing between British and American. This broadens the audience appeal to the international and specifically American market, as the accents are clearly understood, a technique used by Working Title. To avoid a limited appeal or difficulty understanding an accent, often the case with Warp films, we have avoided using any actors with strong regional accents.
All the characters in our opening are white, which broadens the commercial appeal and is commonly used in Working Title films. However, if we were making a feature length film, we would include characters of other ethnic backgrounds.
Sexuality:
The film opening follows a heterosexual couple, and Mandy jokes about Laurie not having a boyfriend, a heteronormative assumption. The main reason for not including an LGBT+ character in the opening is due to stereotyping, as we thought a 2 minute opening would negatively portray the character, but this would included if it was a feature length film. Although there have been recent successful LGBT+ films; Call Me By Your Name (2017), and Portrait of A Lady on Fire (2019), the commercial scope of a LGBT+ protagonist is limited, unless featuring an A-list star or director.
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