Evaluation - Question 4

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

We originally decided during planning for the certification of our film to be a 12A- we have decided to still stick with this certification after having finished our final cut.

From research we know that a lot of comedy films are often of a 12A certification or above, normally due to factors such as there being violence or swear words. Whilst this is not necessarily seen in our opening, it will be something considered later on, which is why we chose this certification.

Specifically, I think that our film would attract mostly to teenage boys (13-18 years old) who are into comic books and super heroes- this is mainly because of the themes running throughout our film as well as the storyline as a whole. From research we know that action and comedy as well as things like super heroes are stereotypically enjoyed more by males than females.

The demographic group we decided the audience would be for our film opening were groups E and D. I still think this is the case after having completed the final cut, with the emphasis still focused on students. Demographic group E are students and our target audience is of around 13 to 18 years old- group D has also been considered to cover people who may be in part time employment. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that our film is limited to this audience and may appeal to other people.

With regards to audience theories, I still think that the main theory which applies to our piece is the hypodermic needle theory. This is a common audience theory used with comedy films, as the audience is able to be passive and purely intake the information given without having to put too much thought into what is going on- meaning that the storyline and characters are simple to understand. A passive audience is an audience that only receives the information as a form of entertainment and doesn't do anything else with it, such as relate it to own ideas or question it.

However, the hypodermic needle theory applies more to popular mainstream films than it does to independent films- which is why I think another theory may be revelant. The other theory I think may still apply (but not as much as the hypodermic needle theory) is the uses and gratifications theory. The uses and gratifications theory means that the audience is active- they could find the film relatable to their own lives; use it to escape their own lives as a form of entertainment and learn more about relationships and social interaction. For example, someone watching our film may relate one of the main male characters to themselves due to the stereotypes used, which are common but relatable to teenage culture.