RESEARCH: Film Audiences

An audience is a group of people that something is aimed at. The audience is there to view the product and they are who media products like films are aimed at. An audience will be specifically chosen according to the type of film and the content of it. If the film has sexual referances or trong language involved then the audience will probably be older than perhaps a film that does not.

The film 'Monsters Inc' has a very young target audience as it is a child's film. It has no sexual referances or strong language, therefore it is appropriate for young children. In the poster used to advertise Monsters inc we can see that quite lively colours like blue and green are used. Also, both monsters are smiling in the picture which suggests it is a child friendly movie. The audience is determined by who the producers and directors think that the film shuld be aimed at. In contrast to the film Monsters Inc, Scream is a film aimed at much older people. The genre of the film is seen as being a slasher film although it also falls into the horror genre. This is the poster for the film Scream. As we can see, the audience will clearly be older due to the colours used on the posters and the contrast of the facial expressions from this film to Monsters Inc. The fact that the scream mask is in the background mixed with a black background shows that the film is quite negative and that it is aimed to scare the audience. Also, the facial expressions are more serious and the actors look scared which will captivate a certain audience type. Another film that also has a specific target audience would be 'Psycho' by Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho is a thriller, therefore it would probably be aimed at an older audience because of the content. It has strong images and it includes props such as fake blood that may not be appropriate for younger audiences. These props such as blood were specifically used I this genre because it emphasises the genre and it will help to decide the target audience. Immediaely, in the poster we can see that it is not aimed at children as the woman is not wearing a top and that may be considered innapropriate by parents for children to watch. The title in the poster also lets us know that the film may not be aimed at children because of the crack acroos the title which may suggest the film is scary or something negative is going to happen. 'The Stepfather' is a mystery thriller. Straight away, we can tell that the target audience is going to be quite high from the poster. The use of red emphasises the danger that will be in the movie, therefore excluding younger members from being able to watch the movie and being the target audience. Also, the image of the man on the poster looks intimidating.