Target Audience Research

Horror

Horror and the BBFC

[ information taken from the BBFC's website]

Historically, the BBFC has treated horror as a special case, so much so that in the late 1930's they introduced a 'H' sign to show (or warn) an audience that the film would have horror features and content. Horror films were also banned from distribution during the second world war in case they damaged public morale, often not released until afterwards when they could have the desired disturbing effect on an audience. This shows that horror films have always been made to disturb or shock the general public, even from the beginning of horror during the middle of the last century.
Throughout the years, horror has been marketed at almost all ages. From films such as 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and 'Dawn of the Dead'




Our target audience for our film is preferably 15-20 year olds, as most young people around these ages are willing to a watch a horror film with friends. Most horror films such as Paranormal Activity are rated 18/R, due to their nature, however I don't think this prevents younger people from actually seeing the films marketed or made for over eighteen year olds.

In films such as Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield, a handheld camera is used. I feel like this is an effective way of attracting an audience to a film because the handheld camera adds realism to the film. This makes the scare factor a lot more prominent for the audience and would encourage them to see the film and recommend it to their peers. In our opening scene, we used a mix of handheld camera and a camera on a tripod, which not only reflected how the characters mental state could fluctuate between stable and unstable, it also reflects how easily people can change sides between good and bad, which also links with the story of the film, as the protagonist switches sides and turns out to be evil. This attracts audience as it happens in a lot of Hollywood films such as Transformers, Olympus Has Fallen, and Iron Man 3.

In other films such as X-Men, chess pieces are used. This attracts audiences to the film because it shows the underlying game playing that the protagonist and antagonist participate in. This is effective because it foreshadows plot lines, such as conflict or a character falling. In films such as X-Men, we are shown Magneto's plans to overthrow Xavier and get his way, this was a clever way into looking at a character's plans and hidden thoughts. We decided that for our film, this would be useful to use as it shows us what's happened or what's going to happen. We also decided to put this in the opening, as like in Se7en, we used our opening to give hints at future or past events, and to confuse yet intrigue the audience and captivate them into watching more.

Moreover, our use of candles and cult-like symbolism shows that