Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

To address the target audience for our thriller, "From the Dark", we used characters of similar ages (mostly), such as Jonathon Cody, which was discussed in Question 4. A familiar location, a middle-class house, is used, and we chose this to comply with our target audience and the nature of our thriller.

Furthermore, the room of Jonathon (our main link to our target audience, similar to the character of "J" in "Animal Kingdom" also has many distinct aspects of mise-en-scene that will directly appeal to our target audience. Many posters of popular comedians and musicians are on the wall, and this is a direct link to our audience and their culture (an image of this is in Question 4). This would promote interest in the film from them, our target audience, immediately as this shot of the boys bedroom is one of the first in the thriller.

Our camera shots were also designed to draw you into the film and empathise with Jonathon Cody, our main character. This is done with close up shots of Jonathon, as well as point of view shots that take you into the situation. This is especially effective when a point of view shot is used when Jonathon discovers his dead mother - it makes the shock affect you directly in the same way it would affect Jonathon. Again, like "Animal Kingdom", these shots are used to put you in the place of the boy of a similar age.

Point of view (POV) shot of Eve Cody, Jonathon Cody's mother, from Jonathon's point of view

The lack of speech in our thriller also helps you to empathise with the character of Jonathon Cody. It lets you focus on his feelings and the atmosphere, further connecting you with him and his situation. A voice over or dialogue would distract you from the action and ruin the atmosphere of the film.

To see the opinion of our thriller, "From the Dark" among our target audience, we made people from the demographic we have chosen fill in a questionnaire.

Assessment of our Thriller by a member of our Target Audience - 17 year-old

In this assessment of our thriller, high marks are awarded. Their only problem with our thriller was the sound, which we have since edited and updated. This choice of music was then approved of by our assessor. They did not find the narrative confusing, and they were not offended by the thriller. They especially liked the editing, which they said "fits perfectly with the opening scene". I believe that this is due to the editing which quickly goes back and forth between the enigmatic figures and Jonathon to keep the atmosphere while linking the characters together. This editing is shown below in the final cut of our thriller, "From the Dark".

As the assessor is a 17 year-old male, his profile ideally fits our target demographic in terms of age and gender. As most of the characters in the thriller are male (and the only female in the opening sequence is dead), the film appeals more to males than females. The fact that this person was impressed by our thriller is a good sign that we have appealed well to our target audience.