Evaltuation 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS: 

Audience demographics are the natural features of a specific person this could be specified through: their age, gender, class and ethnicity. In the media, audiences are targeted through these separate demographics and I will talk about who my target audience for MUTE is.

AGE:

For the opening sequence to MUTE, our BBFC age rating is an 18 because of the mature themes throughout the rest of our film. However, even though it is rated an 18, the age group in which we would most associate and target audience as 15-24 years old as a 15 year old may be mature enough to watch the uncomfortable themes as it entirely depends on the person. Also, this age group would be the target audience as the characters within the film e.g. Hannah who is a teenage girl and is the main protagonist and victim. We stopped the target age group at age 24 as after this age someone may rather watch a more sophisticated drama than a horror/thriller.

NRS CLASSIFICATIONS (CLASS):

The social class of the target audience of the film MUTE would most likely be from grade E through to C2 as many of the audience would most likely be made up by students and working class young adults; the lower grades (E) would make up the majority of the target audience as the film may be more enticing an intriguing to a younger audience because of the relatable young character of Hannah.

GENDER:

In mute there is really no specification to gender as both male and female are part of my target audience. Women , being the primary audience, are represented through the use of the protagonist Hannah, the women watching may feel a deeper connection of empathy towards her character. Additionally, as Hannah is seen as an unconventional woman who is independent and doesn't rely on men, this may empower women so they may watch for those reasons.

On the other hand, men, being the secondary audience, may watch MUTE for their own satisfaction and possibly pleasure when watching the female character Hannah; we have used Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze throughout the opening sequence with the use of mise-en-scene through make up, costume and props, with scenes of Hannah sucking on a lollipop (with sexual connotations) additionally to being dressed in an outfit mirroring one of a school-girl also, when 'bad Hannah' is introduced, the use of bold red lipstick has sexual connotations.

ETHNICITY:

In MUTE, our representation of ethnicity is shown through the character of Hannah and through our anonymous Spanish speaking voice over. The Spanish voice over strengthens Alvrado's 4 key theory and enforces the fear that ethnic minorities have on to the predominantly Caucasian British audience as the antagonist in the film is of non-British decent. Hannah depicts to the audience that the white woman are seen as victims, which may want the audience to sympathise with her - therefore creating a Caucasian target audience. Therefore the ethnicity of the target audience would apply most to the Caucasian, British population.

AUDIENCE PSYCHOGRAPHICS 

The audience psychographics are what makes up the person; this can be identified through their interests, lifestyle and needs. 

As our opening sequence challenges some conventions of opening the target audience would be far from mainstream. Most likely the people who would have the most interest in MUTE would be individualists who are also seekers and adventurers as they want to discover something on screen which is a complete juxtaposition to real life. In MUTE a number of disastrous things happen to the character Hannah ultimately making her change her persona to the binary opposite from overjoyed to depressed - to a shadenfruede audience this would be ideal as they enjoy seeing others at misfortune as throughout the opening sequence her happiness and sanity deteriorate. Additionally, the audience for MUTE may be voyeuristic and enjoy to watch Hannah and not be seen themselves by the characters on screen; in our opening sequence there are several shots of Hannah unaware she is being filmed, one particular shot where she is laughing in slow motion and the ambient non-diegetic horror-esque music is introduced to emphasise this.

The type of people who I would associate the most to be the target audience would be a heterosexual couple in their early 20's who have an interest into horror films. They would be of the working class and would be fairly laid back and informal. However, the target audience may be fashionable with what they wear and with the latest trends as MUTE is a very up to date film in terms with costume, hair and makeup; so they could be associated with the occupation of retail assistants, stylists or hairdressers.

When looking into Blumer and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory through Hannah, it allows the audience to have a 'Personal Relationship' with her as the sympathy/empathy expressed towards her could allow the audience to not feel alone; even though the melancholy tone to the plot, MUTE may include escapers to the secondary audience as they could feel support from the character Hannah throughout.