Evaluation: Question Five:

How did you attract/address your audience?

Our target audience is 18 to 25 year olds both males and females.

We attracted a large number of our audience by doing a questionnaire where we asked them questions about what they would want to see in a thriller film so we were able to interpret these suggestions into our thriller opening. As a group we found this very useful to be able to take there suggestions into consideration when we were making decisions about what the plot was going to be like and what the characters where going to be like.

We included many different things into our thriller opening to enable us to address and attract the target audience as this was one of the most important things when we created the thriller opening. The parts of the opening that we concentrated on most to attract the audience is:

Costume:

The costumes the parents are wearing is very smart, work clothes to show to the audience that they're back from a normal day of work and have been put in a more abnormal situation with the children missing. This shows the target audience that they're very normal and are being put in a situation that isn't normal that the audience may be able to connect and relate to at one point in there lives. The children however, are in very casual clothing to suggest to the audience that they're very vulnerable as they have been taken by someone that they don't know. This will make the audience relate to this and realise that the children are very vulnerable and alone and in need of help from someone.

Setting:

We had many different settings in the thriller opening.

1. The living room - The living room has natural light and is where the suspense of the opening starts to rise as the parents discuss where thee children are. This is a key scene for the audience as they start to realise that something is wrong with the children and keeps them gripped so they want to watch on.

2. The kitchen - Again the kitchen is a very key setting in the opening as it is where one of the firs clues is given to the mum and the audience where the children have left the note. Again, the light is very natural to again suggest the normality of the situation and that nothing is wrong at this point. The audience wonder where the children have gone and why they have gone so suddenly.

3. The front of the house - We used natural lighting to show the audience it was normal that she was getting home from work. We used diegetic sound this this scene to make the audience question what is going to happen an want to watch on.

4. The barn - The barn is the most suspenseful location that we used in the opening where the most drama happened and where the audience start to get questions as to where the children are. In the barn we used very dark lighting with sound effects of rain to suggest and get across to the audience that the situation that the children are in is very dangerous. This creates a lot of suspense for the audience and makes them want to watch on to find out what happens to the children.

Soundtrack:

We used two different soundtracks throughout our opening as at the beginning nothing dramatic and tense happened so we wanted to use a slightly slow soundtrack and then nearer the end when we wanted to build suspense we wanted a faster paced soundtrack. The music as a group we felt was a very important part of the thriller opening to connect with the audience and make them believe that the situation they're in is real and feel the suspense through the music. The first piece of music we used is the Mafia sound track and the second piece of music is the suspenseful cinematic background music which isn't really the sort of music that the target audience would normally listen to but we feel that the music with the thriller builds the right amount of tension for them to enjoy it and feel like they're there. I feel that overall the music worked very well when I edited it to fade and fit the scenes very well to make sure the music changed when it got more suspenseful and sounded ok. We also kept some diegetic sound at the beginning which I feel worked very well as it set the scene for the audience well. However, I would improve the way the music started as I feel that it started very abruptly and I would of eased it in a bit better. I feel that the soundtracks we decided to use represent our thriller opening very well and will make the target audience feel connected.

Props:

Props is one part of the opening that I would of liked to have improved as I don't feel that we used many props. I think however, the props that we did use were significant in the scene to make the audience think about what is happening and give them clues.

1. The mums handbag was the first prop that we used which was very important in showing the audience that she was coming back from a day of work.

2. The keys show the audience her age as it shows she is old enough to drive as at the beginning the audience are unaware of her age but they're able to gather an idea from this and that she has her own house as she opens it with her keys.

3. Can of drink to show that she is old enough to drink and connects to the audience as after work adults like to have a drink to relax after a long hard day so they will know how she feels. The audience also now know that she is a mum so they can also sympathise with her as well to understand the stress.

4. The note is a key part of the thriller which is a clue to the mum and the audience that something isn't right about the children being out. This makes the audience connect to the opening as they want to know why the children have gone out with there dad at such short notice.

5. A laptop to show that the mum is still working but relaxing at home. The audience can also relate to this happening to them as the scene seems very normal.

6. Phone which is another suspenseful moment when the mum doesn't get an answer from the dad suggesting to the audience that something isn't quite right about what is happening and that something may be happening that the mum is still unaware of.

Overall, I feel that we attracted the target audience well through the costumes, props and setting that we used to make the audience understand each character in a different way to help them understand them so they fee connected and want to watch on. I feel that we got a lot of input from the target audience which made us make sure that it was what they like so they could really get involved with the characters and enjoy it.