How did I attract my audience?

I tried to vary my shots, so the piece doesn't become varying. I use several P.O.V shots so the audience can place themselves both in the main character's (murderer) position and in the victim's. This helps engage the audience with the thriller. Iconography is important in addressing and attracting my audience.

This will attract the young business professionals who are interested in my film and even people living in London. When the setting has been firmly established, people from that respective city are generally more inclined to see it. For example, Skyfall filmed all over the world deliberately to attract a larger audience. I have filmed in iconic parts of London, thus would expect a large proportion of my audience to be Londoners eager to see their city on film.



Emphasis on Male Psychotic
There isn't a strong emphasis on gender in my thriller, other than the fact that the protagonist is male. The emphasis revolves more around general mental health than anything else. The drugs in the beginning are indicative of someone who is mentally unstable and stressed, and so immediately the audience are captivated and want to watch more to delve even deeper in to this character's life.





Shock Moments
The murder scene in my thriller would appeal to hardcore thriller buffs. It is very quick and psychedelic and we are shown a close up of the killer's estranged face, that is overlaid over the murder scene. We are sown the murder of the girl in a quick succession of shots from different angles and then it ends with a point of view shot from the girl's perspective of her being strangled and eventually blacking out. Then we have a dramatic black screen followed by perhaps the most shocking segment of the murder clip, the girl's body floating underwater.

 The use of the quick cuts and close ups and build suspense and a heightened sense of tension. This is a thriller convention and common technique used to build up tension and suspense in thrillers. 

FRAMING 
The framing of every single shot in my thriller was crucial. I did not want to show the audience anything that could potentially be 'distracting'. The focus has to be on my protagonist, so that in the very early stages of the film we(the audience) have a firm connection with the main character. Even on the train, I ensure that I frame it so no one on the train other than him can be seen. I also utilise some camera movement like when he sees the dead girl at the train station and slowly reveal what he has just seen. This builds up suspense and shows that the audience what he can see and that only he can see her at the station, although this is implicitly implied.

The audience for my media product?

It is hard to say who my target audience will be and give a specific profile, because I think my thriller will appeal to a wide range of people. However, I think it will be most popular amongst two 'groups' of people;

Teenagers [13-17]

I am inclined not to say one gender will be more likely to enjoy my thriller than the other, but stereotypically I think because its set in Canary Wharf and my main character is male, there is a stronger chance that it will appeal more to males of this age range. My thriller is packed with action and a psychedelic/convoluted narrative and thus it will appeal more to the intellectual than anything. I think teenage boys will like the action aspect of it, and recently I believe there has been a revolution with respect to the kind of movie teenage boys are watching. Unusual thrillers are more interesting than the traditional hollywood story lines that even youngsters are getting tired of. Usually, when your main character is male, males will find it easier to connect with him and the same is true with females and female characters. I think because my main character is young and male, and obviously psychotic he will appeal to young males. A survey that was conducted showed that young men's favourite villainous persona in film is the Pyscopath, examples including Hannibal Lecter and Fight Club's Tyler Durden.

Young Business Professionals

Due to the amount of businessman iconography featured in the opening, it will appeal to people in a similar profession. Canary Wharf has a dominating presence in my opening which is generally considered to be the London's business hub, and generally represents the London economy and London's flourishing business world. Usually when a film portrays a certain kind of person, for example, a businessman or woman or a civil worker, people in that profession are more inclined to watch the movie to see how their profession has been portrayed on screen. This logic would dictate that businessmen are likely to watch my thriller. This is good because it is a very broad category and will result in a bigger audience which means better yield at the box office. 

Movies similar to mine:  

• Fargo
• Memento
• Enemy
• Pulp Fiction
• Silence of the Lambs

My thriller features a lot of elements from some of the thrillers above. For example, we have a psychologically disturbed main character, a convoluted narrative and complex chronology. The films above appeal to almost everyone, but predominately males aged 15-25. 

Film Rating - BBFC

THIS IS FROM THE BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATION

My thriller contains "moderate violence" and there isn't a strong emphasis on any of the injuries or blood. The underwater shot of my victim is perhaps the most disturbing thing in it, but contextually it is justified. It follows a struggle and is very brief. I wanted to make my thriller a 12A because films are also made for profit. Having a rating of 12A makes my film more accessible to the majority of cinema users which in theory should result in a greater box office revenue. Also, I have positioned my audience to look down upon my main protagonist so anything he does or appears to be influenced by will be dismissed or looked down upon by viewers. 

This shows that the almost 48% of the UK Cinema audience are aged 7-24, making 'young people' the biggest cinema audience in the UK. This further justifies a deliberate choice of making my thriller 12A. Distributors may be more inclined to take on my movie, if they think it can make money and lowering the film rating is one of way of maximising profit.