How did you attract/address your audience? (Task 5)

How did you attract/address your audience?

Below is a script I have created for an interview between an interviewer and the director of my opening sequence. The script addresses all of the questions which will help to convey how we attracted and addressed our audience in our opening sequence.

Good evening everybody today I am going to be interviewing the director of the upcoming psychological thriller entitled Thou Shalt Not which stars Mike Niland, Mike Timpson and Hannah Lane. I am here talking to the director Victoria Maximova about how she attracted and addressed the audience in the opening sequence she created. So, Victoria, firstly what will your target audience like about your opening sequence?

I believe that our target audience which is males aged between 15 and 20 will like the violence, the action, the thrill, the treat and of course the mystery that the opening sequence contains. In addition to this I believe that the audience will particularly like the fact that there is a dominating male character as well as the psychotic and deranged character of the psychopath. The weapons and torture element will of course be enjoyed by our target audience and finally the use of climax in the opening sequence will really engage our target audience. All of these elements s have really enabled us to attract and address our audience and draw them into the film.

What genre have you made?

We have made an opening sequence to a thriller film; however our opening sequence also happens to fall under the subgenre of a psychological thriller. A psychological thriller is basically a thriller story which puts an emphasis on the psychology of its characters as well as their unstable emotional states.

So what other films might your audience have been interested in?

 From our research and taking into account the plot line, genre and characters involved in our opening sequence, I would say that our audience would also enjoy films such as The Dark Knight, Taken, Se7en, Swordfish, Shutter Island and As good as Dead. These films are all similar to the one we have created and so our audience would be people who enjoy these type of films as if they were attracted to and engaged in these thriller films then they are going to love Thou Shalt Not! This leads me to think that if they have enjoyed the action and the characters in these films then they will certainly enjoy ours because we have played upon expectations that they have had from other films.

Where have you set your thriller?

We decided to set our thriller in a Church.

Why did you choose this location?

We decided to choose this location due to the fact that we really liked the juxtaposition between the narrative and the location as our plot is very violent, creepy and thrilling however this is sharply contrasted against the purity, holiness and sanctuary of a church. In addition to this we also felt like a church provides a very creepy atmosphere and it also provides a very aesthetically pleasing location which works well at attracting and addressing our audience.

Do you think your audience will respond to this location and if so why?

I believe that our choice of location will work effectively at attracting an audience because it will cause contradiction as it will make the audience feel uncomfortable due to the fact that the narrative and the location are being juxtaposed against one another. This will ultimately put the audience on the edge of their seats which will therefore attract the audience to come and watch our film.

What is your plot line?

Our plot line follows a deranged psychopath who is holding a young girl hostage in a church and torturing her. However she is soon rescued by an inspector who come sin to negotiate with the psychopath.

How would this attract your audience?

In my opinion, this would attract an audience because it is a thrilling and mysterious plot line which will put the audience on edge and is also allows the audience to pose questions. This leads me to think that this is attract and audience because they will want to know what happens to the characters and where the narrative goes which will ultimately attract and audience to watch the film.

How would that address what they are expecting as an audience?

They are expecting to see something thrilling and suspenseful and in addition this they are also expecting to feel engaged and surprised through an intense narrative. I believe we have given them everything they expect to see within our opening sequence therefore this will work effectively at addressing the audience expectations and therefore attracting an audience to watch our opening sequence.

 

What are the characters like and will the audience like them?

The first character is the young girl who is being held hostage. She is innocent, naïve and very vulnerable. I believe the audience will like her because she is helpless and therefore they will feel empathy towards this character. The actress is also very attractive and so this will appeal to our target audience. The next character is the deranged psychopath and I believe that the audience will like this character even though they know that they shouldn’t simply because he is creepy yet engaging and mysterious. This character will attract our target audience because they will be intrigued by the unpredictability of the character. Finally, later on in the sequence the audience are introduced to the character of an inspector and I believe that they will like this character because he is he good guy however they won’t find him as engaging and intriguing as the other characters from my point of view.

What narrative devices have you used in your thriller?

We have used the narrative device of suspense throughout our opening sequence in order to attract and engage our audience as the use of suspense will keep the audience on the edge of their seats and intrigued to find our more and have their questions answered. In addition to this we have also used an unexpected reveal when the young victim stabs the psychopath which is the pivotal point of the sequence and provides the most suspense and tension within the sequence as well as being the climax of the opening sequence. This will definitely attract an audience because it is a pivotal moment in the sequence and contain all of the elements that the audience were expecting as well as an unexpected moment which will intrigue them even more. However we also used the narrative device of an anti-climax when the psychopath holds a torture weapon to the young girl’s mouth and threatens to pull out her teeth. This again will work well at attracting our audience because it will keep them on the edge of their seats and make them want to find out more.

Which social groups are you appealing to and how?

My opening sequence is appealing to 15-20 year old males, which is our target audience for the film. We are appealing to this social group through the use of suspense, action and thrill as well as an attractive female character that is almost like a damsel in distress. In addition to this we also used weapons as well as an engaging and intriguing plot. All of these elements not only appear to our audience but they also work effectively at attracting and addressing our audience to watch our film.

Do you have any music in you thriller? If so what kind and why?

Yes we have used music in our thriller in order to build the world of the film. We used 2 different non-diegetic soundtracks as well as the diegetic sound effect of church bells. We did this not only to build the world of the film and create a sense of atmosphere and add to the tension and suspense created through the narrative but also to reinforce that the film is set in a church. I believe that the audience will enjoy the use of sound and music in our film because it will creep them out as well as put them on the edge of their seats and allow them to immerse themselves into the world of the film.

What do the titles suggest about your film?

The titles we have used in our film suggest that the actors used are very well known and that our production company is a big institution. We have done this in order to intrigue and attract our audience. The use of the title cards being on top of the images rather than splitting up the narrative and putting them on a black background suggests that the people and the institution are famous and important. This is reinforced due to the fact that we have used first names as well as surnames which make the actors appear more important and the use of the professional font also reinforces this. The use of the unique logo for our production company also suggests that we are a big institution that is very famous and overall the use of the titles and the fonts/logos will help to attract and address our audience to our film.  

What editing techniques have you used?

We used a variety of editing techniques in order to engage and attract our audience. We used short shot duration in order to keep the audience interested and intrigued and this also added to the tension and suspense created in the narrative. In addition to this we also used colour grading which made the sequence a lot darker which added to the suspense as well, therefore attracting an audience. We edited our sequence in a linear way meaning that it played in chronological order which allowed the audience to engage with the narrative as well as being a very familiar style for the audience. Despite the fact that we used short shot duration throughout the majority of our opening sequence we decided to use a longer shot duration for the shot where the psychopath cuts his tongue on the knife in order to make the audience feel uncomfortable, which would ultimately attract and address our audience effectively.

What genre conventions did you use?

We used a variety of conventions of thriller films in order to attract and address our audience. Genres usually have specific elements that that the audience expects to be used due to the fact that these elements have been used very frequently in previous films of the same genre or sub genre. For example, in a thriller film the conventions could be weapons, violence and sometimes action or mystery depending on the sub genre. We used the conventions of weapons, violence, action, mystery, suspense, tension and thrill in our opening sequence which enabled us to attract and address our audience. Genre conventions are very important for both the producers and the audience of the films because they are used to engage an audience and in order to be successful the conventions need to be appropriate for the specific genre.

How have you used conventions in your thriller?

Our opening sequence uses the conventions of the props of the torture weapons and the knife and fake blood used for the stabbing to create the action and violence in the scene and this works well with the genre of a thriller.

The title font that we used for the titles in our opening sequence was a long, thin font which helped to connote the thrilling and dangerous aspects of our opening sequence. We decided to create a logo for our production company. This not only gave our brand a unique look but also helped our opening sequence to appear more dynamic and added a professional look to our sequence. The use of the long and narrow font not only provides a clear and legible font for our titles but the actual font itself works well with the thriller genre as the font works well as a conventions of a thriller film.

We decided to use a dark costume for the character of the psychopath in our opening sequence as this is a typical convention used for a villain in a thriller film because the villain usually wears dark colours as these dark colours work well at providing connotations of evil, danger and a negative character.

Our opening sequence used a variety of camera angles and movements in order to make the scene engaging and interesting for the audience as well as showing the action of the scene from various angles and perspectives.

In addition to this our opening sequence used a lot of close up shots of the victim in order to portray her emotions through the detail shown in the actor’s facial expressions. We also used a lot of mid shots and long shots of both the inspector and psychopath in order to show more character detail and the sue of the wider camera angles worked well at providing connotations of the importance and the status of each of the characters.



How have you challenged these conventions?
We challenged the convention of the young female victim being weak and powerless when we have the unexpected reveal of her stabbing the psychopath. This challenged the conventions as it subverted the stereotype that young females are incapable of such acts and that they are vulnerable and weak. However, I believe all other conventions of a thriller that we sued in our opening sequence were either used in their normal way or they were developed upon therefore improving them. 

Overall, from my point of view the various conventions that we used throughout our opening sequence worked well at conveying the genre of a psychological thriller, but they also served effectively at attracting addressing our audience.  

Thank you very much for your time Miss Maximova. This interview has been very helpful at helping us to find out more about the different ways in which you have attracted and addressed your audience in your opening sequence to your thriller film.