Evaluation of Finished Production - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

We used a variety of thrillers conventions to capture and hold the audience's attention.We included a false build up of tension, hidden identities, suspense and more tension. These, and some others, help to create a tense and interesting build to the climax of the thriller. I also think that the music we used help create a more interesting experience, as it was of a fast pace and matched the editing.

To make sure we were addressing our audience, we referred back to our survey. By casting three females all of similar age to our audience, it allows the viewer to become more attached emotionally with the character. The audience can sympathise and be scared for the characters, and may also be more thrilled as it could happen to them. This was another reason why we chose ordinary-looking girls. We didn't want the characters to seem out of place in the setting - we wanted our thriller to look at real as possible. We believe that the more real something is, then the more likely people are to believe it, and immerse themselves into the world of the film.

As the protagonist and supporting actresses were female, we thought we should cast a male for the role of the antagonist. This would be more daunting for the female audience, as men are generally stronger than women physically, therefore at an instant disadvantage. This would mean that the audience would sympathise further with the female characters, and would be interested in finding out their fate.

The locations we used added to the overall realism of the piece, as they were a house and a park. These places are common in our target audience's lives, and are not out of the ordinary.

Our think that our thriller opening would encourage the viewer to continue watching the remainder of the film. I think this because our opening finishes on a cliffhanger. The protagonist screams as the screen cuts to black, and the audience do not know whether she survives or not. Moreover, there are a number of unanswered questions that will entice the viewer into watching more of the film.
These questions include:

• Who is the antagonist?
• Why are they stalking the protagonist?
• Where have the two friends gone?
• What will the antagonist do the the protagonist?