Target Audience

A target audience is the particular audience at which a product, in this case a film, is aimed. Certain groups of people are more likely to enjoy certain types of film - for example, teenage girls are the most likely group to enjoy teen films, and so the production company would fine-tune both the film and the advertising so it relates to them the most.

The target audience for comedies is very dependent on the plot of the film. Comedies can be aimed at a wide range of people - for example, Despicable Me (2010) is aimed at children, rom-coms such as Love Actually (2003) are more aimed at younger women, and sci-fi comedies like Ghostbusters (1984) are usually aimed at men. The age rating will also play a large factor in the target audience of a comedy - if there is a lot of profanity or explicit language, it may be rated a 15 or 18 certificate - meaning the target audience will be narrowed down to anyone over those ages.

Horror films tend to attract a very specific audience in terms of both age and gender. People aged 15-25 are the most likely audience to watch a horror movie, as people that age tend to enjoy getting thrills and being scared. Also, since the main characters in horror movies tend to be either young men, young women, or young couples, people of that age are more likely to enjoy watching them as they can relate to them more. Males may be more likely to want to watch horror movies, as it fulfils the stereotypical male enjoyment of violence, blood and gore - also why some young couples may watch them, as males can fill the dominant role when watching them. Groups of friends may also watching horror movies together, as it's a great way to get an adrenaline rush and become excited with people you're comfortable around.

Action films are very similar to horror films in terms of the feelings it gives you, and so the target audience is also very similar. Since action films consist of a lot of melee fighting, car chases, gun fights and explosions, they're popular with young males, as it again, stereotypically fulfills the things that they enjoy. Also, since the majority of characters are male, this may also attract more of a male dominated audience - however, depending on the actors, it could attract just as many females. However, this appears to be changing in this era - Ghostbusters (2016) saw the use of many strong female protagonists - making it widely popular with both females and males.

The target audience of drama films have the potential to be anyone, depending on the sub-genres. For example, historical dramas, such as Les Miserables (2012) are the most popular with women older than 25 - most younger children tend to be too young to understand the serious themes, which often revolve around war or tragedy. However, there are many other sub-genres of drama films which have different target audiences - romance dramas, such as The Notebook (2004) attract target audiences of women, around age 14-30, since the characters tend to be a lot younger.

The target audience of romance films are often women, aged 13-25. This is because, as with romance dramas, the main characters are often of that age, so they tend to put themselves in the situations of the characters easily - shown in the film 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). Women are naturally more emotional and romantic, and so romance films are very rarely popular with men, unless they have subgenres of sci-fi, action or horror. Less serious film fans are more likely to want to watch a romance film, as they are more lighthearted and easy to follow.

So far, my initial ideas indicate that it is more of a drama film than anything else. So far, I don't see it having a subgenre - it's only the opening of a film, and although the genre tends to be established early on, the subgenre doesn't. Also, since I see it being focussed on a concept and the cinematography more than the plot, I think people who enjoy more lighthearted films wouldn't be a part of my target audience, as I don't want to create something with a generic plot. Therefore, I think the target audience for my film would be people aged 20+, as I think drama films are suited to that age the most.