Target Audience and Influences...

Target Audience

From planning our production we have concluded that our target audience should range from the age of 15 to 30 years, as the theme and storyline for our film would be most appropriate for a 15 certificate rating.

We have giving this rating because the content of the trailer contains horrific scenes and flashings images that could be disturbing for a younger audience. We have decided to range the age up to 30 as viewers over this age may not take an interest in the young aspects of the trailer. Also because the characters of the film are of a younger generation we feel that the younger audience will be able to relate to the situations better and understand it in more depth, due to the circumstances. Part of the film is based on a group of friends going on holiday together therefore it makes more sense if the target audience are also those that understand and can relate to the goings on.

Our trailer is suitable for both male and female viewers however, we have touched upon the idea that females are more prone to fear and anxiety. Males on the other hand are more interested in the thrill factor. This has reflected on our decision to cast female friends as the main characters in order to give a sense of vulnerability.

Influences

There are many films that we have viewed to obtain some influences on the themes, structure and style of the trailers. The majority of our influences are horror however; we have widened the genre to comedy and drama.

Our first influence is Bruno, starring Sasha Baron Cohen. From this trailer we liked the idea of the reviews being thrown onto the screen in beats. The speed of this increases which leads to the sudden flash of the title. We think this would be suitable for our trailer as we can use this in the end of the film instead of the beginning to show how the pace of the trailer has impacted on the action.

Another influence that we have taken a liking to is from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called Hush. A lot of horror films involve a voice over of a young child singing a nursery rhyme in an eerie tone which is very slow paced. This creates a sense of tension and a large factor of fear to the viewers. For those that like scary films they would probably expect to see this factor in a trailer for them
to identify the genre.

For the context of our trailer we liked the idea of Crossroads starring Britney Spears. The reason being that it is light hearted and the lighting of them on the road is daylight which reflects of their mood. We will use the day light at the start of the trailer in order to contrast with the genre of the film and the end of the trailer that ends dark and gloomy as the action increases. Also the characters are 3 friends who go on a road trip with a strange man, which is similar to our 5 friends on a road trip/holiday who meet a strange man.

Another trailer that appealed to us is the House on haunted hill. The reason being that the house aspect was exactly what we wanted to portray to show how things happen in a haunted house. Also the dark lighting matches the mood of the film to be grim and creepy. As well as the lighting the title worked well with the horror genre as it was written in blood that dripped down. This was a really good effect as it creates a sense of horror to the audience.

As for the plot of our film we felt that The Strangers was an ideal influence to use. In my opinion it was one of the scariest and creepiest trailers I have ever seen. It made us all jump which is the effect we want to give to our audience. The slow pace of the action was really good and I feel that this is one factor that made people scared. Also it is set in house where strange things happen.