Target Audience for our thriller

For thriller films the target audience usually ranges from 16-25 year olds and are usually aimed at older men. However our thriller is going to be aimed at a younger crowd from the age of 15. We have also aimed our thriller at both men and women, so our thriller appeals to more people. We have used all teen actors so that we achieve our aim of a younger target audience, as other teens can watch and relate to the movie. Our thriller is quite modern and deals with the story of a troubled teen. We have gone against the usual target audience of older men as we want our film to appeal to a wider audience.

Locations, Set designs, costumes & props

Locations, Set designs, costumes & props are all very important aspects when it comes to creating a thriller film. Different locations, set designs, costumes & props can change the mood of the film very easily so it is important that the location, set design, costumes & props fit accordingly to the story. 'The Butterfly Effect' is a psychological thriller starring Ashton Kutcher. I watched the first three minutes to distinguish the type of set, location, costume & props used to introduce the movie. The movie begins in a dark setting where the actor dressed in a blue type doctor’s jacket with a simple white t-shirt and beige trousers is breaking into an office. As an audience member we can tell this as he checks to see if its empty then kicks down the door, then uses the sofa to block the door entrance. The setting is very dark and enclosed and the location of this scene seems to be in an office of some sort. The props used fit accordingly to the scene i.e. the actor uses a pencil and paper of which he takes from the desk of the office. A pencil and paper is something we would expect to be on an office table. There is a water dispenser which many offices have however, the office resembles a type of therapists’ office as it is spacious, simple and there is no computer of any sort to be seen, but just a sofa to the left of the desk with a table facing it full of magazines and a water dispenser. The office is furnished with fitting colours to the setting i.e. the setting is dark and so is the sofa and desk. This scene is set in the location of some sort of office and the setting and props fit accordingly to the location. The actors costume makes us wonder as an audience member if he is in some sort of hospital as he seems to be clothed in type of doctor’s jacket. The scene then changes to a lovely looking neighbourhood, on a nice day. As an audience member we are informed this is thirteen years earlier. The location of this scene is a neighbour hood, and the setting includes houses, cars, people etc everything you would see in a neighbourhood. The people in the scene are wearing everyday clothing and the young boy actor uses a toy as a prop to play with his dog, whilst the mum dressed in a blue jumpsuit is fixing their car with a tool box prop. She then removes the jumpsuit to reveal a waitress type uniform. The costumes match the setting an as an audience member we begin to wonder who the boy is, and who was the man in the previous scene. In the beginning of this thriller the set, costumes & props fit the location perfectly.

Thriller production companies

There are many different production companies that produce thrillers. One main production company that I have found would be 'Hubbell Robinson Productions'. Hubbel Robinson was born in Schenectady, New York, 16th October 1905. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy. The 'Hubbell Robinson Productions' company has produced such thrillers as 'The Specialists','The Lethal Ladies' , 'The Bride who died twice', 'Man of Mystery', 'Till death do us part' and many more. It was a popular production company during the 60s as this is when most of his films were made.Another movie company is 'New Line Cinema'. 'New Line Cinema' produces many different types of movies ranging from comedies to horror. Itwas founded in 1967, is one of the major American film studios. In 1996, though it initially began as an independent film studio, it became part of 'Time Warner' and is now a division of 'Warner Brothers'. It has produced such thrillers as 'Final Destination' (parts 1-5), 'The Butterfly Effect', 'The Curroptor', 'Most Wanted'. 'Hevanes Prisoner, 'The Long kiss goodnight' and many more.

Target Audience

The target audience is the primary group of people that something like an advertising campaign, movie, tv show etc is aimed at. A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender, marital status, etc. For thriller films it is hard to define a target audience as some thriller movie certificates range from pg to 18. For thriller films the target audience usually ranges from 16-25 year olds and are usually aimed at men although there isn't a great difference between the percenatge of men to womne.This is usually because the majority of actors used are young so youger viewers can follow and relate to the story. I looked at a thriller called 'The State of Play' (2009 based on the british television serial of the same name in 2003). It showed that its target audience was for ages between 15-24 having the highest percentage of 68% and the target gender was males having 63%.

Defining the genre & sub genres

Defining a genre of a fillm can be quite difficult but there are four main ways to define the genre of a film. These being the setting (the environment in which the action takes place), the theme or topic (refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around), the mood (emotional tone of the film) and the format ( the way the film was shot). However film genres often branch out into subgenres (a subcategory with a particular genre) For example a 'Chick flick' is a genre but it may include sub-genres such as comedy, tragedy, 'tearjerkers', fiction fantasy etc.

'Back to the future' is defined as a science fiction adventure film. However it includes sub genres such as comedy(in the character of 'The Doc'), romance (between marty mcfly and jennifer parker, and his parents george and lorraine mcfly), tearjerkers (when the doc is shot, when marty believes he can't bring his parents back together) and others. This shows how all films also include sub genres.

Defining a thriller - Thrillers can often be further divided into action thrillers, crime-caper thrillers, western-thrillers, film-noir thrillers, even romantic comedy-thrillers. Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre. Thriller and suspense films almost go hand in hand and are hard to depict as different genres. Normally films classed as thrillers promote intense excitement, suspense, high levels of anticipation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension and this is how we can begin to define their genre. Spy film are the best example as they are mainly considered as a type of thriller/suspense film.

Thriller Music

From watching different thriller openings I could begin to establish a pattern in the music used for thrillers. The music crescendos through the opening titles starting off quietly and then increasing in volume throughout the whole sequence. Thriller music tends to use an orchestral dramatic score and includes a lot of use of different strings varying the volumes and intensity to set different moods at different times of the film. The music alone is key to a thriller film and is used for dramatic effect to heighten the audiences mood and the audiences expectations of what may happen next.

I have included the opening sequence of 'Insomnia' (2002), which I believe has used music very cleverly.

Thriller Actors

Matt Damon- He was born October 8th 1970. His career was launched after his success in 'Good Will Hunting' from a screen play he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck. Matt Damon has been named the 5th best Thriller movie actor to date. He starred in thrillers such 'The Departed' (2006), 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (2007), 'The Bourne Supremacy' (2004) and 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' (2002).

Janet Leigh - Was born July 6, 1927 and died October 3, 2004. She was an American actress. She was discovered by the actress Norma Shearer after which she then secured a contract with MGM and began her film career in the late 1940s. She appeared in several popular films over the following decade, including Houdini (1953), in which she co-starred with her husband, Tony Curtis. She is well known for her performance as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho(1960). She appeared in other thriller movies such as 'Touch of Evil' (1958), 'The Manchurian Candidate' (1962), 'The Fog' (1980).

Samuel Leroy Jackson- He was born December 21, 1948. He is an American film and television actor. Samuel L Jackson has won multiple awards throughout his career but he is well known for his role in 'Pulp Fiction', where he received several award nominations. He is best known for his parts in thriller films including 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), 'Kill Bill:Volume 2' (2004), 'Out of sight' (1998) and 'True Romance' (1993).

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