When carrying out audience research during the research and planning phase, we discovered, through doing a questionnaire and gathering quantitative data, that our niche target audience was aged between 15 and 25. Therefore we have given our film opening a certification of 15. This allows for an audience of 15 years and older, which is generally suitable for the horror/thriller genre. This age range was supported when we used interviews to gather qualitative data about our target audience. Other than aged 15-25, our target audience has demographics such as being both males and females. This allowed our film opening to be more varied, without such direct aim at a particular gender. By doing this we filmed for a wider audience, instead of narrowing the potential viewers.

In order to attract/address our audience, we used conventions that would appear in usual horror thrillers to entice viewers. People want to feel anxious and scared during films, as it’s a “thrill” for them. Therefore by using conventions we will influence viewers to watch, as they will anticipate what will happen and want to know more, just like when they see other horror films. We also thought about the Uses and Gratifications Theory. This suggests people want to escape everyday life through film (diversion) and so we created a reality that would interest viewers – they wouldn’t want it to happen to them but they enjoy watching it take place on screen. Surveillance also suggests that people will be interested in our film as we created a storyline that panics the viewer. Such violence makes the viewer worried but also interested in what will happen and why. Despite maybe not having personal identity with any characters in our film, the audience may create personal relationships with characters, such as people they feel sorry for or people they feel deserve what they get. This builds suspense as they may want or not want something to happen, but watch to find out if it does and why. To build all of this we used teenage, male protagonists. Teenagers watching may identify with the stereotype placed on them and route for the teenagers in the film. The violence shown in our film opening will also entice viewers to want to understand why that is happening. By not revealing too much of the storyline in the film opening, we build tension as people are unsure what is going on and why. Our soundtrack connotes terror and danger and fear will be felt by our viewers, which invites them to want to continue to watch. They are unaware what may happen, but feel it will be interesting and exciting. Our camerawork creates a sense of realism, which may be alarming for viewers as they feel it could happen in real life. This interests them into discovering how it happens and how it is dealt with. All of this builds tension for what is going to take place.