Thriller Audience Expectations

These are the various results for my audience research. Aged between 16-18, this is our target audience due to the aspect that our thriller will be shown in front of fellow pupils and I would rather make a film aimed at my own preferences; with the themes of excitment, thrill and tension very common with the age group considering puberty, the age group is also the most recorded in going to the cinema and watching films. With these results in mind; my expectations of mainstream films have been reached, all those partaking in the research agreed that the lighting, SFX and settings are much more superior than those of independant films. However, figures relative to plot for independant films have achieved higher scores- relating to the many issues reflected such as violence, sexuality and drugs independent screenings like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

The results for the settings involved shed a generous light on areas as woodland and desolate buildings, mainly because of the themes of isolation, desperation and decay that are connotated with the sets, a must for all thriller films- this result is sucessfull in shaping our thriller film as settings similar to what was shown will be used for my groups thriller task.





The setting, known as 'The Civ' seems a great setting due to the positive light shed on similar locations in my thriller research.



Films shown on screenings were an assortment of mainstream and independant crime films: prompted by their extraordinary high scores on databases such as rottentomatoes and IMDB. Scenes in films like Pulp Fiction and Resevior Dogs scored highly- with many viewers commenting that this was due to the gritty and violent scenes shown. This also is a sucess in shaping my thriller opening, as elements from both scenes shown are incorperated into my thriller opening; in which a girl is hunted down and ultimately killed by two men in an unsavoury, burnt down squash court very similar to the warehouse in which the infamous torture scene in Resevior Dogs takes place.

The majority preferred the dim, ambient lighting of indie films such as Pulp Fiction rather than the blockbuster effects shown in Mainstream film The Dark Knight- shaping our thriller opening with our lack of any superficial lighting at all. This can also be said for our array of camera angles and shots; with ours focusing on bringing more light on our characters rather than epic, complicated shots which would emphasise our setting which would be unfesable with the equipment and no budget at our use- our choice of a british gangster sub-genre also promotes the simple yet effective costumes, settings and equipment at our exposal; this also ties in with our target audience expectations, people our own age who will connect with our costumes, choice of characters and understand how we have shaped our film due to our lack of any sort of funds, using our own clothes and equipment which even themselves may own, making it seem much more familier to not only the audience but to the actors and actresses themselves, generating a more sucessfull film.