Target Audience Analysis

The genre I have chosen is Action. I chose the action genre as it is one of my favourite genres and I
decided that my opening will be one of the slower paced more tense scenes in action films, this will link to
my target audience as the people who most commonly watch action films are from the age of 15 above, the
age usually ranges from 15 to at least 25.
The main target audience for my genre is people between the ages of 15 to 25, the evidence I have is a pie
chart from a slide show on slideshare.com, this shows what age groups of both male and females prefer
the action genre:

This pie chart shows that the age of people who like action films do not range from 15 to 25 but from 13 to
25, this make shows that I should aim my film opening at teenagers and young adults, I should mostly aim
it at teenagers as this chart shows that the main audience of action films are between the ages of 13 and
18 so I will keep aiming my film at teenagers. This Pie Chart shows me that I was right to aim my film at
teenagers as it shows me that people that watch action films are mainly between the ages of 13 to 18 so I
know that if I aim my opening to people of this age group I know that people will watch and enjoy my film.

The top row of this chart shows the ratio between males and females that like action and adventure films,
this shows me that males prefer action films to females. I know this as the blue and purple boxes show me

how many males like action films and how many females like action films. The blue box shows me that 569
males like action films this is 20.2% of the gender. However only 390 females like action films this is 12.5%
of the gender. This means there is a 179 person difference between the two genders. This shows me that I
was right to aim my film at males as this chart shows me that males are more likely to watch action films
than females are.

My main target audience will be teenagers from 15 to 18 as I am trying to go for a 15 age rating, I think that
aiming it at people from the age of 15 will be suitable as they are proven to be the ones who commonly
watch action films, since my opening will deal with a theme that is classed as distressing I think the
minimum age of 15 is good as thats when people are old and mature enough to understand whats
happening and they can deal with it in a mature way.
The codes and conventions for action films are:
Fighting- Fighting is used in action films to help liven it up more in certain scenes, it also helps to progress
the story as it gives characters a good excuse to meet each other, for example a protagonist and antagonist
meeting each other, this usually happens through some form of fight.
Weapons- Weapons are used to make the fighting scenes more exciting, they range from guns, bombs,
knifes and swords, they are used to help make the fighting scenes more interesting for the viewer as the
character arent just fighting but the weapons show that the characters lifes are at stake so it helps to make
the scenes more tense. Weapons also help to bring other codes and conventions into the film, they are able
to bring things such as chases and explosions into the film. Weapons also show power, they are used to
show one characters dominance over another.
Chases- Chases work alongside the fighting and weapons, one character will be being chased by another
or several other characters, they will often be fighting and using weapons, this helps to make the action
faster paced, it helps to make the viewer more interested in the film and it also helps to show that the
antagonist in in a position of power as it is usually the one chasing the protagonist, if the protagonist is
chasing the antagonist, the antagonist usually gets away.
Explosions- The explosions are used to show of the action even more, they work alongside the fighting,
weapons and chases. They are used to make the fighting and chases more intense as it puts the
characters at even further risk, this gets the viewer more involved with the film as they start to wonder
about whats going to happen, however explosions are also used to strike the protagonist on an emotional
level as they sometime take the lifes of those they care about, for example in Die Hard II a plain crashed
and the main character cries after seeing it because innocent people died and he had the chance to save
them.
Fast Paced Music- The fast paced music is used to add tension to certain scenes, such as the fighting, this
is used to make the scene more exiting, it helps to make it move quickly and makes the film more enjoyable
as the sound makes up a large amount of a films atmosphere, the music allows the scene to flow properly,
it keeps the viewer more interested, it keeps matches whats happening on screen, the s=faster something
is happening the faster the pace of the music will be.
Good V.S Bad- Good V.S bad is used to help the story, it allows the characters to become introduced, it
shows the viewer whose who and allows them to become more familiar with each character. It also helps to
explain why certain characters do what they do.
Motive- Every action film has a motive as it is the bad guys reason for doing what it is they do, for example
in the first Die Hard film the antagonist Hans Gruber has taken over a building that belongs to a successful
company, his motive for doing so is to use terrorism as a distraction as he steals money from the
companys bearer bonds. This helps the viewer to understand why the character does what he does, it
gives the protagonist a reason to stop them and it gives the film a proper plot allowing the viewer to follow
whats happening it gives the film a proper story to follow.
Mission to Complete- The mission to complete is what the protagonist must do to stop the antagonist, it
gives a second side to the story as the motive is what the bad guy is doing and the mission to complete is

what the good guy must do in order to stop him, this fills in the rest of the plot, it further helps the viewer to
understand the story.
Slow Sinister Music Slow sister music is not used in all action films, however it is used in a lot, the
purpose of this music is to build up tension for the viewer, it can make certain scenes have a darker more
sinister mood, it is mostly used when something bad happens to the protagonist and when the antagonist
has won something.

Audio is used a lot in action films, this helps the viewer to further understand what's happening it gives
them sound to what they are hearing. The first bit of sound that is used in action film is diegetic sound
meaning it is added whilst the film is being produced, this is usually the characters speaking, it may also be
sound from props such as guns shooting, however this isn't too loud and is usually a queue for an actors to
do something, the gun shot would be a sign that the character has been shot so it's a queue for the actor to
fall down the sound will be usually be reinforced with non-diegetic sound which is sound that is added
during editing to make it sound more realistic, I will be doing something like this at the end of my opening
as I have a gun that I will be using, it makes a noise so I will use that as I guide in order to make it sound
like a gun. The music is also non-diegetic sound this is usually because it's easier to match it up with what's
happening on screen, the music is used to add different effects to scenes, for example a fight scene or a
chase scene would normally have a more upbeat tone, it would be more fast paced and would make the
scene seem a lot faster as it is to keep the scene going at a fast pace where's as a more sinister scene
would have a different effect, the music would be slower and more bass like this makes the music deeper, it
can give a scene a more sinister mood and can make the viewer feel on edge and it makes them feel
nervous about what's going to come up. The diegetic sound is used to make keep certain things such as
voices realistic or to keeps it simple for the viewer to understand whereas non-diegetic sound is used to
make other things such as gun shots seem more realistic, it is used to build mood through music or is can
be used to exaggerate sound such as a car screech as films make them louder than they really are to give
it a stronger effect on the viewer.

My Target AudienceMy target audience is going to be males between the ages of 15 and 25 this is because the age range has
been shown to be the ones who watch action films most, I will aim more at males as they are more likely to
watch action films than females are, males prefer to watch action films as the codes and conventions such
as fighting, weapons chases and explosions are more likely to appeal to them rather than it would appeal
females, this is because males tend to be more boisterous.
I have chosen this audience as they are more likely to watch my film than any other audience are as the
codes and conventions grab the genders attention and the age group has been shown to watch action films
more than any other age groups do.
I will attract my audience to my film opening as I will be using some of the codes and conventions that
attract the audience to action films, I will use slow sinister music to add a sinister and dark mood this will
attract an audience as they will understand whats happening. I will also show different weapons as they
are a main code and convention in action films, this will show the viewer that the film is part of the action
genre, there will be no fight but one will be implied which also fits into the genre, this will further help the
viewer understand that the film is in the action genre as I will try to make it clear that a fight is going to
happen but I will end the opening before it happens to leave it on a cliff hanger, this way the viewer is
interested in what is going to happen next, this will attract them to my film as they will want to know what
happens but it will also leave them wanting to see the fight. I am going to try and make a character that the
audience can relate to, I will do this by making him wear everyday clothes to make him look like a normal
person. I will be doing this to make the audience feel sympathetic for my character as they see whats
happening to him.
I am going to aim for a 15 age rating as my film will deal with strong content but wont go into much detail in
whats happening, I think this is suitable as they are old enough to deal with the content so they can handle
it in a mature way. The age rating also fits with the minimum age of my target audience so I know it will grab

their attention. My film will not be an age 12 rating as it will have some violence in it and the theme is too
mature for the age rating of 12, however it also wont be an 18 age rating as I will not linger on a characters
pain and the scene wont be that gory and there isnt going to be any swearing even though a 15 rated film
is able to have minor swearing in it.
Man 1 will be represented as the strong dominant and successful character, this will be because he will
have Man 2 restrained and he has access to weapons whereas Man 2 is stuck to a chair so Man 1 has a
position of power. He will look successful due to his clothes, a shirt, trousers and smart shoes, this will
make him look well of so it makes him look even more powerful than Man 2 from a social stand point. Man
2 wont be represented as a weak character but he will be presented as being a normal person, this will be
shown mostly by his clothes, he will be wearing normal trousers, a T-shirt, a hoodie and some trainers. This
will be to make him more relatable, as he will be shown almost escaping which will show the viewer that the
character has some form of strength, like the average person does this way this will be seen as being more
relatable.

My Questionnaire analysis:

In order to understand my audience better I made a questionnaire for them to fill out, this has allowed me to
send it to people so they can fill it in, this has shown me what sort of person likes action films, it also helps
me to understand what I should do with my opening in order to attract my audience.

Questionnaire Results:

Analysis:
As is shown by my bar chart twelve
people took the time to fill in my
questionnaire, seven of these people
were female and five of them were
male. This means that my results
may be biased as more females
filled in the questionnaire.

In this column it shows what people

do as a profession, this has allowed
me to further understand what sort
of people enjoy watching action
films, eight of the twelve people who
filled this in have answered this
question, five of the eight people
have put unemployed or student,
this has shown me that the majority
of people who filled in my
questionnaire are students at collage
or sixth form meaning they range
from the age of sixteen, this shows
me that me setting my age from
fifteen to twenty-five is a good idea
as my audience has answered this
question for me.
This helps me as it shows me what
sort of people have more time to
watch films.
This bar chart from my questionnaire
shows me what genres my audience
like, this was a multiple choice
question that allowed a number of
answers, it shows me that the most
liked genre is comedy, it also shows
me that action is the second most
liked genre so it shows me that the
action genre is one of my audiences
favourite, this is good as it shows
that my audience will be interested
in my film.

This next column shows me what my

audiences favourite action film is, all
twelve of the respondents answered
this question answered this
question. This has shown me that
four people do not have one or do
not like action films, however the
majority of them do, they all
answered with films such as
Batman, Ironman, Rambo and
James Bond, this has shown me
what sort of action my audience like,
it shows me they like over the top
action with extended fighting scenes,
this is good as it will help me build
tension at the end of my opening.
These will influence my work as I will
be able to look at the films and see
how they have been done, that way I

have something to help inspire my

film, especially the James Bond
franchise as it has some torture
scenes in it that will help me inspire
my scene.

This bar chart shows me if people

prefer to watch films on their own or
with others, three people said on
their own, the other nine people said
with others, this has allowed me to
understand how people enjoy to
watch films so it shows me what I
can do with my opening, it also helps
me to understand what I can and
cant show as most people like to
watch films with other and they may
not like all of the same things. This
will influence my work as I will be
able to make a more sinister and
strange situations happen, so that
questions are left, people who
watching the film together can then
talk to each other about it, this will
allow me to make a more interactive
film opening.
This bar chart shows what sort of
personality traits people like in a
protagonist. Most people said things
like brave, reliable, and to have
known weaknesses. This will help
me influence my work as I am able
to understand what people like to
see in the main character, this helps
me to further develop my
protagonists personality, it allows me
to make a character that my
audience will both like and relate to.

This bar chart show me what sort of

personality traits people like in an
antagonist, people said things like
Evil, Manipulative and Crazy. This
helps my film as it allows me to
create a personality for my
antagonist that people will find
interesting but it will also allow them
to hate the antagonist.

This bar chart shows me

what peoples favourite
aspects of an action film are.
This allows me to see what
my audience like best about
action films, this helps my
work as I am able to see
what my audience like so I
am able to make my film suit
their interests in order to
make it appeal to them even
more. I will include weapons
and I will leave a fight or a
chase implied as this are
some of the common codes
and conventions in action
films and these are the ones
that people like.
This bar chart shows me if
people like films to end on a
cliff hanger or not. Five
people said yes and the other
seven said no, this shows me
that my audience doesnt like
a film to end on a cliff hanger
so this helps my film as it
allows me to understand how
to end my opening in a way
that appeals to my audience.
Even though this is almost a
complete split as it is almost
50/50 there is a small
majority of people that do not
like cliff hangers so I will not
have my ending, end on a
cliff-hanger as the majority of
people do not like them.

This bar chart shows me if

people like an ending to be
open to interpretation, nine
people said yes and the other
three said no, this allows me
to make an ending that
people can make their minds
up about so the answer isnt
given to them, they are able
to believe what they want.
This will influence my
opening as I am able to end it
in a way that the audience
like, this will allow them to
believe what they want and it
allows the opening to
become more interactive with
the audience.

Conclusion:
My film opening will belong to the action genre, this is because it is the second most popular genre to my
audience and a popular genre overall as it is used in other genres.
The codes and conventions I am going to use in my opening will be, Weapons as my opening will revolve
around a torture scene and will help build up more tension, I will use slow sinister music that will allow me
to build up more tension, I will use good vs. bad as it is key to action films as its what the plot and the other
codes and conventions revolve around, I will also use a fight/chase, this will not be shown but it will be
implied, this allows me to build up more tension but my questionnaire has shown me that the majority of my
audience like a film ending to be open to interpretation so this does not only fit in the codes and
conventions but it also shows what my audience like as well, this way they are more likely to watch my
opening.
I am going to use the bad guy looks like a good guy by using false representation in my opening as the bad
guy will be dressed as a priest in the beginning of my opening to make the audience think that he is a good
guy, he will then take of his priest collar and drop it on the floor making the audience wonder whether he is
good or bad before it is revealed. This will help to add some mystery to both the character and the story as
it will make the audience wonder whats happening and why its happening.
I will present my title as being a strong bold font and then having it slowly get thinner as the title goes on,
this will be a representation of the main character running out of time as it the font will change to a thin
withered font to shows the viewer that the main character is running out of time and his situation is getting
worse, this will help to shows the audience whats happening but it will also build more tension after the
opening has finished. The colour of my title will be white on a black background so it stands out, this will
make it more memorable, it will also fade in making the ending even more sinister.