Thriller Film Target Audience Research

Every genre of film has a variety of audiences who respond to certain aspects in different ways. This is the reason why all directors and producers have to consider who their audience will be even before starting the project because it can affect the content of the film as well as the purpose of making a film in the first place, and which is to entertain people. In this case, the thriller genre audience who would therefore be drawn to our short film would likely to be teenagers, either unemployed or have a part time job as well as skilled workers who would prefer thriller films because of their personalities which would be enticed by what this genre would have to offer.

 

This description however, though detailed, can be easier explained and divided up into different profiling categories which directors and producers keep in mind when selecting the right and specific audiences for their film. They think in terms of:

• Social Profiling -  This is like a class/hierarchy system that starts from higher managerial to the lower levels. This means: 

A = Higher managerial (e.g.surgeons, bankers) - Well paid professionals 

B = Middle Management (e.g. lawyers, teachers) - Fairly well paid professionals

C1 = Skilled Non-manual 'White Collar' (e.g. junior management, bank clerk)  

C2 = Skilled worker 'Blue Collar' (e.g. electricians, plumbers) 

D = Semi and Unskilled manual (e.g. driver, postman)

E = Lower level (e.g. part time workers, unemployed, students)

• Demographic Profiling - This categorises people into a more generic group: 

Age, Gender, Race, Location, Family Life Cycle, Sexuality 

This affects whether or not these people would see it because people of different categories like different things such as men liking action films over women. 

• Psychographic Profiling - Building up exemplar profiles in terms of individual personality to represent the different types of people within audiences. It is broken down into: 

Mainstreamers/Conformists - Tend to like to follow what the crowd does 

Aspirers - Following in the footsteps of a chosen path

Succeeders - Confident in success that has been achieved

Reformers - Challenging the establishment by making a statement for change

Individualists - Actively ignoring trends such as fashion

Therefore a viable target audience would be people aged 15 and over in the C1, C2, D, E classification because through observation, thinking about ourselves (aged 17) and as well as our peers we realised that this audience would engage the most with our short thriller film. Furthermore, mainstreamers would also fit this category because they would follow the crowd that enjoys our genre of film, also meaning a larger audience would view our film.

Not all audiences can view a specific film though because of certain reasons which is why every country has a film classification board that mediate, moderate and regulate films so that they are suitable for chosen audiences. For example, if the film classification board find that a film has scenes which they do not believe is suitable for the selected audiences; then they will inform the key senior production staff to make some changes through editing or else the rating will be changed appropriately.

In Britain, the board is known as the ‘BBFC’ (British Board of Film Classification) who watch the film before it is allowed to be released in the country and give it an age rating. They deliberate what it shall be using the standards and criteria in their classification guidelines which follow the 1998 Humans Right Act (and are listed below and include imitable behaviour, language, violence, nudity...). In addition to this, every 4-5 years the 'BBFC' carries out a survey to find out what the public thinks of the age ratings of films and if their classification standards meet public concerns, therefore making any changes if necessary.
These age ratings, otherwise known as certificates are broken down into 5 main age categories in order to protect certain individuals of groups such as children from watching something that might affect them psychologically. They are, ‘U’, ‘PG’, ‘12’, ‘15’ and ‘18’ - in terms of producing an opening sequence for a short thriller film, my film will most likely be a 15 or 18, however the latter tends to be more of a ‘wet horror' which is not what I am planning on carrying out. 

BBFC CLASSIFICATION GUIDE 

'U' (Universal): 

  

Suitable for all ages – All audiences would be able to see my film, but there would be complications in how younger audiences would interpret my film and consequently this my thriller film could not be passed with this rating. This would also be because it would be difficult to include an appropriate level of suspense with this certificate rating.

An example of this film is 'Toy Story 3' (2010) which was given a 'U' rating because it does not go against any of the guidelines such as violence, which requires restriction for younger more impressionable audiences. It follows a positive moral framework which means that anybody can see it. 

Trailer for 'Toy Story 3' 

'PG' (Parental Guidance): 

  

General – Almost all audiences can view these films. However, this rating is not for a typical thriller film therefore meaning that this rating is not right for the genre of my film. The rating has considerable and similar issues to a 'U' certificate when concerning the key thriller genre codes and conventions especially with some subgenres such as action and psychological thrillers. 

The BBFC awards the film ‘G-Force’ (2009) with a PG rating because the theme of violence might be overstated or a little too much for some younger audiences to handle but still has some comedic elements to balance it out - parents should assess whether or not their child should watch the film, ergo the “guidance” part of the rating. 

Trailer for 'G-Force' 

'12'/'12A' (Advisory): 

  

 

Suitable for children aged 12 years and over – this is the age at which children are able to start to enjoy and view violence but still not the grouping for which I want to be able to make my short film. 

‘Bourne Legacy’ (2012) has been granted a 12 rating because it “contains moderate violence”. This connotes that audiences of this rating and above can handle basic concepts/levels of violence and can be exposed to such so long as it is not too violent or graphic. 

Trailer for 'Bourne Legacy' 

'15': 

  

Suitable for people aged 15 years and over – People at this rating have a concept of the themes that are on the classification guidelines and can view moderate levels of these. This is my target audience for my short thriller film as I want my audience to be able to get to grips with it but not so much as to go all out with the themes e.g. violence, swearing... 

A 15 rating has been given to ‘Kick-Ass’ (2010) because it “contains strong language, once very strong, & strong bloody comic violence”. This has been done purposefully to protect younger audiences from being psychologically affected and influenced to exhibit such behaviour because it is viewed upon as morally wrong for this age group. 

Trailer for 'Kick-Ass' 

'18': 

  

Suitable for people aged 18 years and over – this is the highest rating given by the BBFC and they believe that audiences of this rating are mature enough to experience the themes portrayed by these films. This is not the type of rating I would consider representing my film because if I were to carry out scenes which contained for example, violence, to the full extent that I could, then it would become more of a ‘wet horror' which is too risky to use because it can be mistaken for a horror. 

The film ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) has been presented as an 18 because it “contains strong violence and sexual violence” which is only suitable for audiences of this rating because they can handle it psychologically unlike the people classified under the lower ratings who could not.

Trailer for 'A Clockwork Orange'