Demographic Features: Social Class, Gender, Age, Sexuality & Interests
Our film is going to be a social realist, action film which focuses on the life of Erin - a teenage girl in a working class society. She is a lonely and vulnerable character who has been brought up by a neglectful and alcoholic single mother who is aggressive and verbally abusive to her daughter. This abuse makes her isolated and quiet which makes her a target for school bullies so her social life is non existent. Our aim is to to create a character that an audience can relate to and also provide an explanation for why many youths today are antisocial and violent, as many rebellious youths come from a bad background full of neglect, abuse and isolation. Our female character is shown to take on masculine characteristics in the way she is violent and aggressive and the fast-paced action scenes of the film would appeal to a male, teenage audience. The storyline of Erin's struggle to take control of her life and the battle with herself shows the different sides to her - anger, loneliness, frustration and vulnerability - will be relate-able to teenager girls who face those feeling when they are growing up.
The primary audience for 'Raze' is young adults, aged 15-21 which is why the certificate for our film is a 15. The demographic features of our audience are an important consideration when making the film seem realistic and relate-able as that is our aim. The audience will be working class teenagers who are brought up in a similar society to our main character as social class is a key feature of our film as Erin is a young girl from a working class upbringing. Some scenes of our trailer are to be filmed in a comprehensive school which also highlights social class as she is from quite a deprived and poor background. Other scenes are to be shot in her home which is a small council flat, again implying that Erin is not from a wealthy family and faces struggles that many working class youths face as they grow up in a modern society full of high expectations.
The secondary audience we want to target with our film is adults aged 21+ who may be interested in social realist films about British culture or parents who have an interest in understanding some issues teenagers and their own children face today. Adults who are also aware of the stereotypes and negative press about today's youths would also be targeted in this film as it provides and explanation for why some teenagers act the way they do. This older audience may be from different classes and backgrounds but may have interest in this film to understand today's teenagers. Other adults may find our film appealing if they are from a troubled background or lived in a similar area and faced similar problems that Erin does. This would help them become reconnected with today's youth culture and feel a sense of familiarity with some characters.
The setting of our 'Raze' is an inner-city area in London, so the audience from a similar area would be aware of the struggles of youths and the problems that they face. For example, the general outlook on youths from the government's point of view is that youths are antisocial, violent and disrespectful. Stereotypes like these that are broadcast in the media to represent the youths in today's society are frustrating and provoke anger among youths who then have little or no support for the government who label them in this way. As well as this, many youths may act in this way to kick back at a society that they see to have failed them while they were growing up, whether it be in education, future employment or in family issues which were never helped or resolved by those in society whose job it is to help. Generally, it is working class youths that are labelled this way so we want to represent their anger and frustration in our film as well as provide an explanation for why youths may act in a disrespectful and delinquent way.
Age and social class are key features in our film but sexuality will not really be represented, apart from Erin's masculine traits which may be questioned as relating to her sexuality. Erin's character does not have a romantic interest in the film to distract her and there will be no sexual or romantic scenes as the film is to be gritty, raw and powerful. Gender roles are very important in our film, as Erin's mother is highlighted as the antagonist as she is an aggressive and neglectful alcoholic who mistreats her daughter and sets a bad example for her, which then leads her into a life of violence and crime. Erin's change of appearance as she reinvents herself as a tough, violent and independent character is important when considering representation of gender as she is still female but is taking on masculine characteristics that she witnessed when some male youths attacked another male. She uses these hegemonic masculine traits to be strong, intimidating and in control to assert her new found Independence and status. This would relate to a male audience as well as a female audience who may use violence or intimidation to be controlling or to assert their position in youth society as may provoke a reaction from an audience who could review or question their own actions after viewing it on screen.
Interests of the audience would be quite similar, as they would share a liking of music as many teenagers do. The film does not target a group of youths who like a particular genre of music as the 'hoodie' culture of the film mainly revolves around genres such as rap, hip-hop, R n B, grime, drum n bass and dub step. The audience would not specifically be interested in this music, but mainly an audience who are involved in such youth culture would find this film appealing. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are a large part of modern youth culture so this a large interest of the target audience. TV and film would be another interest of the audience who may watch programmes like Skins and Misfits and like films like Harry Brown and Kidulthood which are of a similar genre to our film. Socialising would be a key part of the audience's life which would perhaps appear more important to them than education or future prospects which is a view that many teenagers from all generations, past and present, have. Appearance would be an important feature in the lives of the target audience as many teenagers today are very involved in the way they look and how they are perceived by friends and peers.
Audience Analysis
Environment, Expectations & Interest
The environment in which the 'Raze' would be viewed links to the demographic of our audience as it would have to target them when they are watching particular programmes. The trailer would be played during an advert break of some Channel 4 or E4 dramas, such as Skins, Misfits, This is England '86 and The Inbetweeners which are all popular among the target audience. These dramas also tackle problems that teenagers can relate to - social and family problems, drugs, alcohol, sexuality etc. In the cinema, the film would be shown at showings of films of a similar genre or films that would have the same audience, perhaps showings of horror or specific comedy films, as well as thrillers and action films. It would be a good idea to show the films on 'Orange Wednesdays' at Cineworld where many teenagers who generally have a low income go to the cinema as you get two for one tickets. The location of the showings of the film would also be important, so large towns or cities would be the best place to show this type of film as the location of the film is inner-city in London. Cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham would be key places to promote the film as the youths in these cities would face similar problems as Erin does in a working class, struggling society. The same cities would also be best suited for wide-spread advertising such as billboards and posters on buses and at bus stops.
An audience who is watching a trailer for a social realist, action thriller would expect to see a lot of fast-paced action and scenes of violence. The fact that it is social realist film would also have expectations as the film must seem realistic and that the events in the film would be possible in 'real life', although some dramatisation would be expected to make the film a little more interesting and exciting. As the film is supposed to be a real and raw representation of modern youth culture, expectations would be that the audience can relate to the characters and the events that happen in the film as they are of a similar age and social class. It would be completely different if our target audience were to be middle class adults as they would not expect to relate to the on-screen events but we want our audience to feel a relation to what they are seeing so they can get really involved in the storyline of the film and feel that as a teenager, they are not watching the negative stereotypes that are generated through the media to generalise the behaviour of today's youths. As the trailer will feature scenes of Erin being aggressive and violent as well as lonely and vulnerable, the audience will expect to see a powerful and realistic transition between the two sides of Erin. A feeling of empathy for Erin's character would also be expected as the vulnerable and lonely side to her will be shown as well as an explanation for her actions in the scenes of her mother.
Interest in the film would be provoked by the representation of the characters. It is important to understand why the audience would find the film appealing and want to watch it and apply this to how we portray our characters and effectively conform to our chosen genre to reach out to attract the target audience and fulfil their expectations. Interest would be sparked by the content of the trailer showing scenarios and emotions that the audience can relate to or understand. Scenes of violence and action would spark an interest, especially with a male audience and a female audience could be interested by the use of a female protagonist. The film's aim is to represent issues that are present in society today which could reach out to the audience who face the same problems of the main character or who are generally interested in modern British social realist films which focus on contemporary youth culture.
The setting of our 'Raze' is an inner-city area in London, so the audience from a similar area would be aware of the struggles of youths and the problems that they face. For example, the general outlook on youths from the government's point of view is that youths are antisocial, violent and disrespectful. Stereotypes like these that are broadcast in the media to represent the youths in today's society are frustrating and provoke anger among youths who then have little or no support for the government who label them in this way. As well as this, many youths may act in this way to kick back at a society that they see to have failed them while they were growing up, whether it be in education, future employment or in family issues which were never helped or resolved by those in society whose job it is to help. Generally, it is working class youths that are labelled this way so we want to represent their anger and frustration in our film as well as provide an explanation for why youths may act in a disrespectful and delinquent way.
Age and social class are key features in our film but sexuality will not really be represented, apart from Erin's masculine traits which may be questioned as relating to her sexuality. Erin's character does not have a romantic interest in the film to distract her and there will be no sexual or romantic scenes as the film is to be gritty, raw and powerful. Gender roles are very important in our film, as Erin's mother is highlighted as the antagonist as she is an aggressive and neglectful alcoholic who mistreats her daughter and sets a bad example for her, which then leads her into a life of violence and crime. Erin's change of appearance as she reinvents herself as a tough, violent and independent character is important when considering representation of gender as she is still female but is taking on masculine characteristics that she witnessed when some male youths attacked another male. She uses these hegemonic masculine traits to be strong, intimidating and in control to assert her new found Independence and status. This would relate to a male audience as well as a female audience who may use violence or intimidation to be controlling or to assert their position in youth society as may provoke a reaction from an audience who could review or question their own actions after viewing it on screen.
Interests of the audience would be quite similar, as they would share a liking of music as many teenagers do. The film does not target a group of youths who like a particular genre of music as the 'hoodie' culture of the film mainly revolves around genres such as rap, hip-hop, R n B, grime, drum n bass and dub step. The audience would not specifically be interested in this music, but mainly an audience who are involved in such youth culture would find this film appealing. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are a large part of modern youth culture so this a large interest of the target audience. TV and film would be another interest of the audience who may watch programmes like Skins and Misfits and like films like Harry Brown and Kidulthood which are of a similar genre to our film. Socialising would be a key part of the audience's life which would perhaps appear more important to them than education or future prospects which is a view that many teenagers from all generations, past and present, have. Appearance would be an important feature in the lives of the target audience as many teenagers today are very involved in the way they look and how they are perceived by friends and peers.
Audience Analysis
Environment, Expectations & Interest
The environment in which the 'Raze' would be viewed links to the demographic of our audience as it would have to target them when they are watching particular programmes. The trailer would be played during an advert break of some Channel 4 or E4 dramas, such as Skins, Misfits, This is England '86 and The Inbetweeners which are all popular among the target audience. These dramas also tackle problems that teenagers can relate to - social and family problems, drugs, alcohol, sexuality etc. In the cinema, the film would be shown at showings of films of a similar genre or films that would have the same audience, perhaps showings of horror or specific comedy films, as well as thrillers and action films. It would be a good idea to show the films on 'Orange Wednesdays' at Cineworld where many teenagers who generally have a low income go to the cinema as you get two for one tickets. The location of the showings of the film would also be important, so large towns or cities would be the best place to show this type of film as the location of the film is inner-city in London. Cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham would be key places to promote the film as the youths in these cities would face similar problems as Erin does in a working class, struggling society. The same cities would also be best suited for wide-spread advertising such as billboards and posters on buses and at bus stops.
An audience who is watching a trailer for a social realist, action thriller would expect to see a lot of fast-paced action and scenes of violence. The fact that it is social realist film would also have expectations as the film must seem realistic and that the events in the film would be possible in 'real life', although some dramatisation would be expected to make the film a little more interesting and exciting. As the film is supposed to be a real and raw representation of modern youth culture, expectations would be that the audience can relate to the characters and the events that happen in the film as they are of a similar age and social class. It would be completely different if our target audience were to be middle class adults as they would not expect to relate to the on-screen events but we want our audience to feel a relation to what they are seeing so they can get really involved in the storyline of the film and feel that as a teenager, they are not watching the negative stereotypes that are generated through the media to generalise the behaviour of today's youths. As the trailer will feature scenes of Erin being aggressive and violent as well as lonely and vulnerable, the audience will expect to see a powerful and realistic transition between the two sides of Erin. A feeling of empathy for Erin's character would also be expected as the vulnerable and lonely side to her will be shown as well as an explanation for her actions in the scenes of her mother.
Interest in the film would be provoked by the representation of the characters. It is important to understand why the audience would find the film appealing and want to watch it and apply this to how we portray our characters and effectively conform to our chosen genre to reach out to attract the target audience and fulfil their expectations. Interest would be sparked by the content of the trailer showing scenarios and emotions that the audience can relate to or understand. Scenes of violence and action would spark an interest, especially with a male audience and a female audience could be interested by the use of a female protagonist. The film's aim is to represent issues that are present in society today which could reach out to the audience who face the same problems of the main character or who are generally interested in modern British social realist films which focus on contemporary youth culture.
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