CCR Task 2: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

 Real film audiences 

 The genre of our film is horror. Typically, people aged 15-25 watch these films, the main reason being this

age group love the thrill of them. These thrills are more likely to excite a younger audience rather than an older one, which could relate to the Uses and Gratification Theory. This theory suggests that a main reason people enjoy films is Entertainment and Escape. This could be anything dramatic that would excite an audience, like jump scares in horror or tension, explosions etc...

Horror films are different to audiences every day lives, and the scares enables them to forget about their jobs, problems... and enter a world that is more dangerous and exciting. 

In terms of gender, males are typically more likely to enjoy a horror film. This is because research suggests that are more socialised to be brave and enjoy threatening things. 

A film similar to ours in terms of genre in 'The Conjuring'. I found that the main viewers for this film were both male and female. The pyscographics for this film were mainstreamers, resigned and strugglers. In terms of uses and gratification, people watched it for the entertainment, social interaction and escapism. The age group for this film was 15-24. 

Another film we got inspiration from was 'Resevour Dogs'. Although this film does not fall under the horror genre, there are some specific horrific scenes included which inspired our piece. The main viewers for the film in terms of gender, age and nationality were: Males- this is because the plot line is quite violent, understanding that males will be typically more interested. The age range is 18+ because of the violence and gory imagery that would not be suitable for anyone under. 1,785 males ages 18-29 voted this film, again showing this film was popular with males. In terms of nationality, this film was popular with British people as this is a British film. 

Lastly, a film similar to ours is Mr Brooks, where it is the story of a "nice guy" when he is actually a killer. The film has an 18 certificate, showing the pattern in real audiences for the horror genre. The main viewers for this film were people aged 18 and over, both males and females but males preferred this film. Mr Brooks was not very well known globally but they had a Western audience. 

Identifying my target audience 

In terms of demographics, I think our opening sequence is targeted at mainstream teenagers and adults, maybe from ages 15 and onwards. This is because our film would be British. Despite myself fitting into the demographic of British teenager, I would not necessarily fit the target audience for this film because horror is not a genre I generally enjoy. This is because of my psychographic profile.

Our opening sequence would fit a Western audience, ages 15 and onwards, but within that demographic, for people who enjoy the horror genre, and who like the 'goriness' and scares. 

Young and Rubicam came up with ways of describing audiences based on personality types. Some of the descriptions they came up with are explorers, strugglers and reformers. 

I personally think that our opening sequence could fit each of these personality types in different ways. 

Explorers- Seek discovery. I think that these are young people (teenagers) who look for energy and an experience which is what the horror genre provides.

Strugglers- Seek escape.  Going through something and want to escape for a while. I think that our film would be very distracting as the fear from the plot would take the audiences mind off things for a while. 

Reformers- Seek enlightenment. This includes freedom of restriction and growth. I think this fits for teenagers discovering horror films and feeling mature watching it. 

Although females like horror films, I think that males would enjoy our horror film. This is because research suggests that are more socialised to be brave and enjoy threatening things. 

How I engaged my target audience -

 One way that we engaged our target audience was by choosing the right location. We chose a dark, creepy corridor to set scene. This location creates instant tension, and based on research into similar products, this tension automatically engages audiences and keeps them interested in the rest of the film. We created a scary, claustrophobic atmosphere, which almost traps the audience in the scene with the characters, keeping them engaged and wanting to know more.  

Another way we engaged our target audience was by using the typical media conventions of low-key lighting. Horror films usually include this to create the creepy atmosphere for the scene. This creates tension because of the mysteriousness and darkness which controls how much the audience can see (in terms of surroundings and characters). For example, at the very beginning of the scene, we used red lighting to establish the mood. Red has connotations of danger, which could be used as a code that something dangerous and bad is going to happen.  

We also used enigma codes. An enigma code is when film directors make something unclear and leave unanswered questions. This is typical for horror films so we decided to use some. Firstly, we show the shot of all the shoes. This could leave the audience with questions such as "Why are there so many shoes?" "Who's are they?" "Why is this man happy and dancing about this collection?" etc... Another enigma code we included was the trap door at the end of the opening scene. We included this with the intention to leave our audience questioning what is down there and intrigued to know more, keeping them engaged. Enigma codes are good to use because they encourage audiences to keep watching which is the aim for our
sequence. 

This image of the pile of shoes could also be a cultural/ referential code to some audiences. Some audiences might understand this to be similar to the shoes found of victims of the Holocaust, which might make the sequence scarier, make the audience feel more uncomfortable... 

We also based our sequence off another theory to attract our target audience. In terms of Vladimir Propp's theory, we followed some of the typical character representations. Our main character is clearly the villain and holds more power, and we made this clear in a number of ways. We used high angle shots of him to show that he holds the power and is superior in this situation. We also gave him the majority of the screen time which again highlights the importance he holds and tells the audience that the film is going to be about him. Some other things we chose to do to show this was direct him to have confident body language when dancing. We wanted to intrigue the audience as he is doing such a sinister thing but dancing about it at the same time, making him an interesting character that the audience want to follow. We used handheld shots to make the audience feel like we are following his journey with him, and directed him to have blank facial expressions to further make the audience uncomfortable. Producers use stereotypes such as gender stereotypes because they make the plot easier to understand and follow. 

Lastly, to engage our target audience we used the conventional camera angles that are typically seen in horror films. Horror films typically use high angles and birds eye shot, close ups, tracking shots and panning shots, long shots and establishing shots, low angles... We included these in our sequence to engage audiences. For example, we used high angles to make our female character look weaker and inferior. This is one of the ways we told the audience that she was the victim.  We also included tracking shots of our male character, making the audience follow his story. We used high angles to make our male character look superior and close ups to get the characters feelings which helps the audience understand them more. 

 

Did I actually engage audiences- (feedback)

When watching the sequence with friends, I think we made the audience uncomfortable and intrigued which was our aim. As well as verbal feedback, watching people’s reactions gave us physical feedback which was good because it gave us more of an idea of how the audience actually felt. 

When watching the sequence, it was clear our audience were surprised when the victim on the floor was revealed. I think a really disturbing image was when the pile of shoes came up on the screen. 

Some verbal feedback we got was that people wanted to carry on watching, and were intrigued by the sequence. People said they liked how the music was contrapuntal and the casting. They said the males characters costume fit the part and the scene was overall enjoyable to watch.

Some other feedback- "Great choice of location, and I really like the dark humour of the music as the man walks through the corridor.  The lighting is a little bit too dark in some parts and it might be nice to have a light that picked up some more details eg reflections in a pool of blood or something.  The wrapping and dragging of the girl does feel like it takes a bit of time, and maybe that could be cut down a bit or something added to add interest eg a wound or some other angles of Fleur."

Overall, the feedback for our sequence was positive. 

Intro to distribution 

Film distribution is when companies make the film available to exhibitors (agreeing deals, producing digital and physical copies), and raise awareness and demand through marketing.

Exhibitors include cinemas, TV channels, streaming cites etc...

For example, the company Warner Bros distributed the film 'Wonder Woman' in different ways. They had a theatrical release in 69 countries, but also distributed on streaming sites such as HBO Max, which helped them reach a wider audience. They also released four different types of DVD's which again helped them to distribute to a wider audience. 

Distribution Companies 

A distribution company that I think would be good for our film is Netflix. Netflix is a subscription based streaming service that allows members to watch unlimited TV shows and films. Netflix is used globally, and especially because of COVID, I think that this would be the perfect place for the film to be, as people haven't been able to go to cinemas or still feel too anxious to sit in an enclosed space with people in such close proximity. Netflix have distributed other horror films such as 'The Purge', 'The Nun'... etc, which are the same genre as my film. These films have had huge success and are known worldwide, and I think that our film could have the same potential. 

Another distribution company I think would be good for our fil
m is the company Lionsgate. This company is an American-Canadian entertainment company that has been going since 1997. It would be good to use because they have distributed well known horror films such as 'Cabin In The Woods' which has had huge success.

These film companies are large film companies, which distribute mainstream films with big budgets. If our film was not distributed by the companies above, an option I would turn to is the streaming site Shudder, which distributes films with low budgets.
  

Marketing my film 

Netflix could help market the film by having it as a suggested film on the home page. It could fall under the 'New releases' section, or could be a suggestion for people who have watched horror films for example "Because you watched, you may like..." It could also be one of the first films that come up when users click on the horror genre, and the trailer could also be included to make users want to watch it. 

One of the tabs at the top of the Netflix screen is 'New and Popular'. It could fall under this. 

Lionsgate could publish our film poster designs in locations such as billboards in busy towns. This would raise awareness of the film without people even realising it. Lionsgate could also publish the trailer on Youtube as this is again a good way to reach a large audience. Trailers on Youtube get up to millions of views which raises awareness for the film, and even if people can’t get to the cinema to watch it, they can immediately go onto Netflix to watch it. 

To market my film, I could also create social media pages such as an Instagram page. I would choose to have an instagram page rather than a Facebook one for example, because the demographics of instagram are more relevant to my target audience. The users are usually younger and fit in the age range of 15-25, and Facebooks is higher. I could create hashtags, which again would be helpful to raise awareness and make the film 'trending'. Having interactive things such as stories, polls, hashtags will help engage our

target audience.  For example, the page could also post things such as behind the scenes, or interviews with cast members to let the audience get to know them.

Distributions methods for my own film

My film would be distributed on Netflix as discussed above, but Lionsgate could also have a theatrical release. Although my film is small and low budget, acting as if it weren't, my film could be distributed to cinemas over the UK. I think it would be good to distribute my film around Autumn time because of the link between the horror genre and the 'Halloween season'. It would also be a good idea because the big blockbusters usually have theatrical releases during the summer time. If my film got released in Autumn, there would be more chance of people watching it as they would not have to 'chose' one film over the other, as trips to the cinema are expensive.

I think that by using streaming sites such as Netflix, and having a theatrical release, alongside with the right methods of marketing would bring our film big success. 

Especially in the coming months, a theatrical release would be a good idea as lockdown restrictions are lifting and more people are likely to go to the cinema.