Question 5:

How I addressed my audience?

Audiences consume different media products for different reasons which is why it is vital to tailor a film with consideration to how the Film or media product appeals to the audience demographic. for example audiences view films for different reasons however in our "Of The Nights" it is how it utilises suspense and aesthetic quality of cinematography which encourages film "buffs", a niche art house audience.

 

Use of soundtrack engage audience combining with use of lighting and camera angles in mise en scene to create a build-up of aesthetically pleasing suspense leading to a dramatic climax of tension. "Of The Night" attempts to address audience of both gender but for separate reasons. We attempted to address a female audience by feeding off their fears to make them identify with the issues raised by the film in relation to their own fears they have about the world around them. for example we tried to highlight the danger of urban society’s and trying to inform audience to be weary and careful. However we tried to address males with the issues raised by putting an extreme and rather dark representation of gender in order to highlight patriarchal issues within society and challenge generic conventions in quiet a feministic way which is controversial however popular within modern day society and would appeal to our demographic. In conclusion the victim plays/highlights on audiences fears in order to address viewers whereas the attacker challenges representations to an extreme which was inspired by Tarantino's "Death Proof" and addresses audience of film buffs who identify with challenging nature of film as it engages them and stimulates their minds.

How did I attract my audience?

- Costume of characters enables audience to identify with characters and engage with their feelings. We used the hooded parker as they are popular within the young generation, our demographic (16-21) was great for portraying the antihero with zeitgeist by suggesting such people are lurking urban labyrinths and not necessarily the stereotypical hoodie or skinhead which are representations commonly portraying villains in films. The victims costume is fairly stereotypical and fitting to younger people such as the demographic making viewers more inclined to engage and identify with them increasing audience appeal. 

- Costumes are typical of people who live in urban "jungles" (cities) and are fashionable which engages audience with action more. Familiarity of costumes and locations add realism to the mise en scene which is important for real film lovers.

- Film consumers, film lovers especially expect certain generic conventions for example in the case, enigma, tension, claustrophobia, confusion and many more. "Of The Night" attracts audience demographic in many ways, for example elegance and age of buildings in beginning indicates the city/ location has style and tradition which was inspired by Carol Reeds use of similar signifiers referencing glamour, style and history in the "Third Man". However locations are juxtaposed with a urban underpass and then an estate representing Norwich as being a cold, urban and mysterious moral labyrinth. This means that we are increasing audience attraction by using signifiers and conventions that the film lovers expect.

 Audiences may however not expect some aspects of "Of the Night", while we stick to most generic convention of a noir thriller we challenge them with urban modern location, young people who typically are not viewed as part of the underworld of crime and the fast pasted action in the opening which is not generically typical of a thriller opening.

- The cliff hanger in our film leaves the audience cold with fear engaging them and encouraging them to continue watching in order to figure out various enigma's for example who is the villains next victim, what does he want? Who is he? And finally and most importantly will justice prevail? Viewers when consuming media products, when they are faced with such fear typical to suspense thrillers such as those of Alfred Hitchcock like to see a resolution in the film in order to resolve any fears the film may have brought out of the unconscious.