Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/ address your audience?
In order to attract both our primary and secondary audience, we spent a lot of time on the visual image, including the mis-en-scene and characters.

Attracting young adults (15-30 years)
-We specifically chose actors aged seventeen who looked quite mature for their age, so that a wide range of people within our target age range could relate to them.
- We used make-up such as thick black eyeliner and red lipstick to make our actress look older
- We used the smart dress code of a black jacket and grey trousers to make our actor look more mature
- The genre of thriller/horror itself should attract young people as our audience screening showed that horror is one of the most watched genres amongst them followed by comedy.

We attracted Males by:
- Using a female protagonist whom they would be sexually attracted to due to the shower shots
- Portraying the male’s vulnerability and playing on their fears of being dominated by the woman in a relationship, which they fear will make them feel like less of a man and therefore more insecure. This would make them suspicious as to what will happen to this male character and how he will react.

Our audience screening showed that males did enjoy our opening sequence as all of them said they would like to watch on.

We attracted Females by:
Using a female character who they can relate to as she is:
- Image conscious and therefore applies a lot of make-up and paints her nails
- Sophistiticated, which is clearly portrayed through the mis-en scene during the pan of dressing table on which there are candles and many red accessories.
-They may also be attracted to our film due to the fact that women are portrayed as more powerful than men subverting their stereotypical image as the victim in many horror/thriller films such as 'Scream' (Craven, 1996).

We attracted Young Couples by:
- Using references to red to connote love through the iconography such as the red rose
-Suggesting elements of sex and romance through the nude shower shots and candle lit dinner
-Overall, we used a very ordinary setting that is relatable to everyone in order to suspend their disbelief so that they perceive the film to be real.


Attracting our secondary audience (horror/thriller film lovers)
We did this through conforming to audience expectations with our use of genre conventions such as:
- Low-key lighting
- Eerie music
- References to red
- Characters (victim/villain)
- Most obviously the iconic knife

I think our opening sequence will invite in even more genre fan viewers as whilst audiences often like to be ‘in the know’, once introduced to the big twist in our film, it may arouse even more suspicion as to what this female killer is going to do next and why, and therefore they will watch on. In our audience feedback questionnaire, a female aged 17 has said 'I am interested to see what happens to the man', which is what we wanted to achieve.

In this way, we also attracted our audience by addressing their fears of the effects that psychological illnesses can have on people. It is especially terrifying to see how an ordinary woman that seems to be performing her daily ritual of getting ready, in fact transforms into a psycho who is preparing to murder her boyfriend. This may leave the audience feeling anxious and even suspicious about those ordinary people around them.

For effect, we used a build-up of suspense through the slow-paced editing style leading up to the shocking climax. We emphasised it by using slow motion when the knife is picked up giving the audience time to react. Being thrilled is all part of the viewing pleasure and audience feedback certainly shows that many were shocked when the female character picks up the knife. Therefore, this sort of climax can attract our audience by generating visceral pleasures.