Target audiences are important because they allow a director/producer/writer to have some guide as to what they will write. For instance, the people who wrote Transformers would have aimed the film at those who had either loved the cartoon, mostly males and people who like action movies, this is just what the genre of the film was aimed at; the actual content of the film would have been aimed at people's age as they couldn't have aimed it at five year olds as it would not have been as exciting and the plot would have been less complicated. However they must have aimed it at people aged around 13-26.
However the actual audience that a film attracts may not be who the creators originally imagined, a 15 year old girl may prefer films like Transformers and Angels and Demons because she finds them more interesting than films such as Pretty Woman or When Harry Met Sally even if she is the target audience. People often go to watch films because of their individual preferences, rather than their stereotypical preferences.
Some people may watch a film because it relates to their life; for instance an ex-solider may want to watch Inglorious Bastards as it relates to their previous life, but on the other hand, it may put him completely off, as he has "been there, done that" and therefore it would attract people who haven't been in the army as they want to know what it was like. Another example of this is that many women who are going through a hard time in their love lives enjoy watching romance movies as they can sympathise with the characters.
Often I think it is wrong to base a film's target audience on age, because - apart from the extremes such as a five year old watching a Saw movie- the people who go to see a film are often not in the targeted age group as it is just what they fancy watching.
We've aimed our film at teenage girls aged 13-17 who have an Asian family. In our film we have tried to create lots of situations which would happen in real life, such as embarrassing younger sisters, which teenage girls will be able to relate to. Also, the main plot is a common dilemma for many Asian women who belong to a strict Asian family, being unable to go out with the boy they want to due to different cultural or religious backgrounds. I think that our film does appeal to this particular audience because of the different situations we have created to make it as realisitic as possible.
You make an interesting point at the end there, Franky. You need to think about your target audience and see if you can define it by other means. I understand ethnicity may be the choice for you. But that doesn't exclude age or gender as well.
ReplyDeleteClear understanding of target audience. Now apply it to your product effectively and ensure your target audience gives you some feedback.
Mrs H