Target audience

WHO IS MY TARGET AUDIENCE?

Within my research i have descovered in which my target audience is:
Male and females
15-25
Like watching horror films, like a thrill rush!

Questionnaire Results

Institutions

Who is the company?
Paramount pictures.

Examples of films in which paramount pictures have produced:
April Fool's Day
Blood And Roses
Body Parts
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter
Case No. 39
Dead Zone, The
Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell
Friday The 13th
Friday The 13th - Part Ii
Friday The 13th - Part Iii
Friday The 13th Part - Iv:The Final Chap
Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning
Friday The 13th Part Vi : Jason Lives
Friday The 13th Part Vii:The New Blood
Friday The 13th, Part Viii - Manhattan
Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence
Haunting, The
Let's Scare Jessica To Death
My Bloody Valentine
Pet Sematary (Old)
Pet Sematary II
Prophecy
Relic
Ring 2, The
Ring, The
Ruins, The
Skull, The
Sleepy Hollow
Stephen King's Graveyard Shift
Stephen King's Silver Bullet
Tales From The Darkside: The Movie
Targets
Tenant, The
Vampire In Brooklyn
What lies beneath

This was taken on the 11:35am, on the 17th November from:
http://www.paramount.com/studio/library/horror

Background from Paramount pictures:
Paramount Pictures is located in Hollywood at 5555 Melrose Avenue. Paramount Pictures was founded in 1912 It is the oldest American existing film studio.

What type of company are they?
Paramount pictures are a film production and distribution company. Within the film production this means the process of making a film, from an initial story idea or commission, through script writing, shooting, editing, directing and distributing to the target audience. Within the distribution this means that they are responsible for maintaining and operating a distribution system and providing other services to customers.

Who are they owned by and what other products do they produce?
Paramount Pictures is currently owned by Media Conglomerate Viacom. They also produce:
• The Walt Disney company
• Time Warner
• News Corporations
• DreamWorks
• Neopets (online website)
• Atom Entertainment

Target audience within using Paramount Pictures:
Paramount pictures targets a wide range of audiences through the different films in which they produce. Paramount Pictures creates may different genres of film, for example:

·        Science fiction

·        Horror

·        Comedy

·        Thriller

·        Children’s films such as shrek- as they own DreamWorks

·        Supernatural

·        Action

This is significant because it shows that this particular company targets a high range of

people and this allows them to create more money.

Research into target audience: The Ring 2
Within The Ring 2 they created a viral campaign. A viral campaign is spreading the information to one another rather than adverts and billboards. The reason in which i believe that they used this rather than an conventional advert or billboard is due to the target audience being of a young age such as 15 plus and that is usually when they discuss topics such as films. They build up of this technology used film would scare people within the word of mouth.

This information was found from:
http://kimknight.com/ring/
on Monday 24th November 2010 at 11.28.

Questionnaire

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The devils rejects trailer

The devil’s rejects trailer-
The first example in which occurred at the very beginning of the trailer was mise-en-scene. This is a police report, this is done because police often show important, significant and suggestion of something bad occurring within the news. This is reflected within this short sequence. The man on the police tape also shows significance because of his appearance, the uniform and his moustache suggests his importance, power and that he is very manly. This is an important characterise for a policeman because they are suppose to be in control. It is also to show that the police are the "good guys".
It then uses editing with the use of jump cut to a women, this is when it links into the second area within the four technical area which is sound. The music is non-digetic, it is very feminine to reflect on that particular character. She is the most feminine based character within this particular film which is clear, and because of the way she is acting you can tell that she uses her looks, smiling and swishing her hair, to get things in life. It also portrays that’s she is innocent which is ironic because this particular characters is one of the serial killers. I believe that within this short section you can tell that it’s suggestive that the film will have lots of twists.
Close ups is an example of one of the four techniques- camerawork. This particular close up is a shot of a man in authority, he is very well presented and it then uses editing to match cut to a shot of two men. Who take the persona of "Hilly Billy’s", they give off the look that they would be smelly, they are a mess and not well kept. This gives the look of the stereotypical killers in which I believe that they have correct, due to the nature of stereotypes.
Another example of mise-en-scene is the police break in, the way in which you are able to tell they are police is from their costumes, the props also add to the effect. Also because of the time period and the location they are almost having a "shoot out" and so this requires the props- i.e. gun’s to add to verisimilitude.
An example of editing is montage, this is used with the section of the police, women screaming, the killings, people running, driving, man smashing car, man smoking. This is very fast paced when it is shown this is because its to show that the film is very exciting and that it never has a dull moment. This also suggests that it will never fail to stop scaring people because it is so fast paced.
The title within the trailer is first used with a slogan and then a tagline and then the actually title is used, this is so that you know what the film is actually about and what you are likely to expect. Within the writing, the use of red is used. This is because it represents blood and death and because this film is a slasher and is mainly consistent of lots of death and killing the use of red is very effective to use because the target audience will automatically make this connection.is based within America, it uses the stereotypical "red neck" locations. I believed this location is used because it is very isolated, where nothing much even grows; this vastly represents death. Another example of a film in which includes a similar location is "Hills have eyes". Through ought the film it uses the four technical areas to make the horror film effective.

The ring

The ring – part one is a horror film based in America, it used technology to create verisimilitude. It also uses this technology to exploit the target audience because they are very familiar with these products so after watching it. They would be more wary of the technologies in which are used; for example the use of video tapes. It also targets the teenage audience and keeps this relevant as they use teenagers as the characters. This also adds to the verisimilitude. Through ought the film it uses the four technical areas to make the horror film effective.

            The first technical area in which is used within the first section of The ring is mise-en-scene. The location is the main aspect in which is first shown, the house is very creepy looking, and this is done within the use of set design. It is very conventional within its design, as creepy houses very much so have straight, symmetrical shapes and usually a very dark house. There is usually a tree in the front garden that is very near the window. The tree makes the location more eerie as stereotypically trees can determine imaginative “ghostly shapes”. They often creep people out late at night. Also stereotypically within horror films, the location is very isolated so that the actors are unable to escape, this follows the conventions within this because the house appears not to have anything around it. Within this section of the house, the use of camera work. This is helped to reflect on the location. Zoom in, helps to identify specific details which was the front door, so that you were given more information for the house; from the initial establishing shot.

            The next section from mise-en-scene is when; the editing aspect which is a jump cut leads to two girls from within the house. The two girls are dressed in stereotypical uniform; this consists of blues and blacks. There are both wearing skirts, shirts, tie and a blazer. This allows us to know the age range of these girls; because it is American we know that the girls are roughly around 18-19. Also within the reference that they are alone, and there costumes it suggests there vulnerability because young people are stereotypically weaker and less wise. This also establishes the target audience. It does this by the use of the characters; they have deliberately used young, beautiful girls because it is more tragic that they will be killer or disturbed like what occurs.

            It then uses the editing of jump cutting to show the television. Jump cutting is often used within horror films because the actions are often very fast paced to make the audience feel this particular anxious or scared. This is used because the television suggests modern in which this horror film is trying to express as the television is required to watch the video tape which is the main focus of the whole film.

Sound is the second technical aspect is another technique used to make the horror film effective, dialogue is the example of this technique. This is used to scare and inform the audience as it’s almost like a folk story. This is very conventional to be used. For example this use of telling the story to what is happening or why is used within scream. This is to tell the audience what has happened.

Another technique which is used to make horror films effective is camera work; the example of camerawork used is a close up of one of the characters. This is to express there vulnerability, there expression from what events have just occurred and to show in effect what there body language is, for example there emotion. This makes the audience feel there emotion because it is so distinctively expressed.

Another example of mise-en-scene it the telephone, this is also suggested through technology you know that the telephone is linked to the video tape in some form because after the story has been told by the character the phone rings. This initial links into the title and also because of the ringing sound it makes the characters more scared and because the actors take so long and the ringing continues it builds up on tension and makes the audience more scared.

Lily Anderson

Analysis of Horror films

REC 2 – Part oneRec 2 is a horror sequel, this film is set in Spain and the language in which it is set is also Spanish. This film has English subtitles; I believe this makes the film more eerie for an English audience because of the suggestion of confusion. I also believe that because Spanish is a very fast paced language it is suppose to represent this throughout the film. Through ought the film it uses the four techinical areas to make the horror film effective.
The first technical aspect in which the horror film uses is sound. This is used at the very beginning still when the film is starting. The sound that is used is Non digetic, this is because it is the very start of the film and it is used to make sure the target audience knows that this film should scare them. The sound that is used is a scream this is directly linked to terror, this is what a horror film initially try’s to create. This makes the audience make the direct link, which this film will make them want to scream. The second technical aspect that is used is the camera work, the first shot is a mid shot, this shows us some of the characters environment but still allows us to see there reaction. The reason that I believe that they have chosen this particular shot is because you feel sympathetic with her and you put yourself in her position and the audience also knows that they would be breathing heavy and screaming. This also makes the audience feel on edge because as there is a build up, the audience knows that something is going to happen because she is panicking. Another example of camera work that is used, is also post production editing, this is the use of night mode; this is used because it makes it more eerie. Also the fact that the night mode it adds to the suggestion of the location being dark. The night mode also suggests that somebody is recording the girl this suggests that she is not alone, this also puts vulnerability within the audience because they are expecting something to happen at any time, and this causes tension. The third technical area in which is used is the sense of darkness’s in which is expressed in the first section in the first scene. The reason in which they have used a re-enforced sense of darkness is because it creates both vulnerability for the character and the audience. This is because people generally can’t see in the dark, stereotypically bad things happen at night, for examples murders are suppose to occur within the dark. The audience then make this connection. Dark also suggests evil, for example "black magic" this links to the darkness element. After this the title sequence appears, this element of the four technical area us editing, this is because of the title. The title is written in sans-serif this is so that the audience is able to read the title clearly. Within the title it represents the film in general as it also represents how the film was created as in record as it uses that symbol which is used to represent that a camera is recording, the example of this is:
　
　
　
The effect in which this displays is which initially how the film is created, so it is recorded by the people, and the red is used to display danger, blood, virus. This is directly linked to the film because bodily fluid for example blood is red, this empathises the illusion.
It then skips to the second section in the first part of Rec 2; this first expresses the technical area mise-en-scene. The reference to Army is used within this; this is mainly done by costume and props. The Army Characters costume consists of the stereotypical elements such as helmet, dark, green-coloured, gloves, padding and very manly. The props that are used to make the audience connect these characters to army, is the fact they are carrying ammunition. This reflects on there importance, it also suggests that the characters are in a very vulnerably position and that they need protection. The van in which is transporting them also backs up this idea of vulnerability as because of the costume and dialogue add to this sense that these men are of extreme power. Even though they of extreme power, they’re being transported as if they’re location is to remain anonymous. This adds confusion for the character which is transmitted to the target audience, this also adds to anticipation because both the characters and the target audience display wanting to know where this van is leading them to.
Another section in camerawork, which can also be described as editing, is scene on screen, which shows the personal camera of the army men, to show there perspective. This occurs in the corner on the screen on the left hand. I believe that is a good technique because it shows how what they are seeing, there personal view, this makes it very personal and allows the audience to connect with them more, and are more likely to feel there emotions.
Another example of the technique sound is the dialogue, within the dialogue between the army men; the use of taboo language is used. However for this particular social network, I believe that the use of "fuck" would be very common, as it reflects on there masculinity and how "hard" they are suppose to be. It also suggests that they have a lot of authority and they often rebel from it as teenagers are stereotypically suppose to use taboo language to come into themselves, I believe the taboo language here, is to signify there venerability and there arrogant towards the situation they are placed in.
The next technical area to be used is mise-en-scene; this is with the use of props. The significant prop within this section is the use of masks, this initial tells the audience the sub genre within the horror section. It is in fact to do with infection, this suggests that the location in which they are going to could infect them because it is air born. This would make the audience make connections with viruses that have occurred which have been targeted by the media such as "bird flu". The mask creates verisimilitude and would make the target audience more tense because they know that some how these army characters will eventually get infected because it is very typical narrative. Then the introduction of the building is very stereotypical of other infectious incidence, which have also had media coverage of building being quarantined. This is done by the coverage of white plastic-like sheets, and men in which are wearing white protective suits. This is also in effect used to create verisimilitude, this also scares the audience because it makes them realise how serious this particular situation in which the army character are going to have to experience.
The final example is of sound, the example of this is diegtic sound of sirens. This suggests panic and something going wrong. I believe this is used because it is suppose to also reflect on the narrative, that like the sirens the army men and what ever is to be endured within this particular building it is very urgent, very serious and something will inevitably go wrong. I also believe that it makes the target audience very on edge due to the particular nature of the panic and hustle and bustle.Rec and Rec 2 have endorsed this symbol and made it there own, they did this by adding blood spatter within the title for example on the [REC] section as shown below.

Targets

I have completed my target to finish my conventions, my next target is to complete writing about detailed research into horror which is my chosen genre.

Detailed research into Horror

Conventions:

The conventions in which I have already identified are:

• Use of eerie music to build up tension usually stringed instruments such as violins. The music peeks at its loudest famous example is the psycho scene in the shower.
• Stereotypically the girls will die first, especially if the girl is blonde.
• Locations are usually very eerie such as abandoned buildings, grave yards, woods (stereotypically dark areas). The reason for this is because it creates vulnerability for the characters involved.
• Special effects for example within a Slasher, the violence such as the killing and blood are shown.
• Within the title usually the colour red is used to signify blood, for example devils rejects
• They usually play on technology or commonly know used objects to play on within the plot to create verisimilitude which makes the horror scarier, for example in the ring, the use of a video tape is used. Within the times that the film was created the video was at its peak, it was commonly used and many people would relate to this.
• Often plays on people most common fears, examples of this are clowns and spiders. Both of these horror films have been created for example “It” and “Arachnophobia”.
• Low key lighting.

Other examples of conventions are:

• Credits are usually very fast paced, usually with the colour red indorsed within it. Also the credits also use many different sounds that are non-digetic such as screams, the music that builds up tensions – i.e. violins, can use the sounds of weapons i.e. guns. The credits are usually serif this is so that the important information such as crew and cast are able to be easily read.
• The title for the film is usually in san serif this is to make the title more interesting, this reflects on the film itself. However the title is also not on the extreme of san serif so that it is able to be read as it is the most important element within the film allowing the viewer knows what they are watching.
• The location are very isolated, this is to make sure that the characters are unable to escape (this is to add on additional information within the previous conventions in which I explained).
• The camera work within horror films are usually hand held, close ups and mid shots. Hand held because it shows effects such as how the characters are feeling, or sometimes it is the characters filming and it shows what they are experiences such as when they run it shows the camera work for when they run. Close up is to show expressions such as if the characters are scared then it will re-enforce this. Close ups can also show part of the villains identity such as a scar. Mid shots are used to show all the characters, such as conversation. Establishing shots are also used to set the atmosphere such as an eerie location i.e. grave yard.
• Editing is also an important within conventions in horror films, the main editing that is used are shot reverse shot. This is because it will be used between dialogue of the characters. Also between the villain and characters to show thier reaction and terror.
• Within narrative there are different conventional storylines one example of this is the babysitter story; an example of this is one missed call. The narrative consists of, a teenager that gets a babysitting job in a location that is very isolated. Usually the Teenagers is blonde and is not introduced to the child. They usually link to the technologies such as the phone and television. The character usually watches the television, does revision/class work, gets food and talks to people via the telephone. The telephone usually holds the key to prank calls. These prank calls are usually from the killer. The calls are usually from within the house. They usually check on the children and often there is no children, the killer torments the character as they try to call the police. Usually the baby sitter grabs a knife and runs around the house, the baby sitter usually escapes.

Another example of conventional narrative is a killer within a mask who never dies. An example of this is Halloween. This usually includes the characters in which are teenage, this is to attract the target audience, also teenagers are stereotypically vulnerable due to drugs and alcohol influence.

Targets

As i have completed my targets for today, i am setting a target to complete by the end tomorrows lesson to finish a more detailed research into conventions.

Targets

I have completed my targets for today.

Research into similar products

Thriller:

Example of Thriller films:

• Taken
• Oceans 11
• Reservoir Dogs
• Knowing
• The day after tomorrow
• Identity
• Panic room
• Angels and demons
•  Signs
• The others
• The Thirteenth floor

There are also thriller television programmes such as:

• 24
• Lost
• Prison break
• Numb3rs
• Criminal minds
• CSI

Definition of thriller:

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are characterised by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.

Conventions:

Conventions of thrillers are:

• Atmosphere that creates menace, violence, crime and murder.
• Shows society as dark, corrupt and dangerous.
• Happy ending where villains are killed.
• Uses cliff-hangers, plot twists and red herrings.
• Can change moods such as adrenaline rush anticipation, anxiety and terror.
• Fight/chase scenes
• Crime thrillers – Ransoms, heists, revenge and kidnappings
• Psychological thrillers – Mind games, stalking, obsession.

Horror:

Examples of horror film:

• Frankenstein
• The devils rejects
• The ring
• The Blair witch project
• Candy man
• Nightmare on elm street
• Halloween
• Friday the 13^th
• IT
• Chucky
• Scream
• The Texas chainsaw massacre
• Dawn of the dead
• Night of the living dead

Within horror there are many different types of subsections such as:

• Slasher
• Teen terror
• Serial killers
• Zombies
• Psychological
• Realistic
• Supernatural
• Infection

Definition of Horror:

Horror fiction is a genre of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to scare its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural.

Conventions of Horror:

• Use of eerie music to build up tension usually stringed instruments such as violins. The music peeks at its loudest famous example is the psycho scene in the shower.
• Stereotypically the girls will die first, especially if the girl is blonde.
• Locations are usually very eerie such as abandoned buildings, grave yards, woods (stereotypically dark areas). The reason for this is because it creates vulnerability for the characters involved.
• Special effects for example within a Slasher, the violence such as the killing and blood are shown.
• Within the title usually the colour red is used to signify blood, for example devils rejects
• They usually play on technology or commonly know/ used objects to play on within the plot to create verisimilitude which makes the horror scarier, for example in the ring, the use of a video tape is used. Within the times that the film was created the video was at its peak, it was commonly used and many people would relate to this.
• Often plays on people most common fears, examples of this are clowns and spiders. Both of these horror films have been created for example it and arachnophobia.
• Low key lighting.

Comedies:

Some examples of comedies are:

• Dad’s Army
• Monty python and the holy grail
• Hot tub time machine
• Black adder
• White chicks
• Dumber and Dumber
• Dude where’s my car?
• Yes man
• Borat
• Ali G
• American pie
• Something about Mary
• Not another teen movie
• Clueless
• Two and a half men
• Frasier
• Only fools and horses
• Kings of queens
• Everyone loves Raymond

Definition of comedy:

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending (the black comedy being an exception) – an example of this is Everybody hates Chris.

Conventions of comedies:

·        High key lighting

·        Visual humour such as in only fools and horses when the chandelier breaks. This is slapstick humour.

·         Punch lines.

·        Visual gags.

·        Make the mood and emotion more positive such as laugher

·        Use of non-digetic sound used more such as canned laughter.

I have taken into consideration, within the preliminary task, this research and personal preference in which film genre I indented to produce. The film genre that I indented to produce is Horror.

Tagets

My target for today is to complete research into different film genres and decide which film i will genre i will produce