How we attracted and addressed our audience.

By Hanna and Jess

Our audience

• We decided that given the topic our Thriller entails, and the actors chosen, that teenagers would be the ideal audience for our thriller. With teenagers already being fond of films that excite them, and thriller being an edge of the seat experience; the addition of an idea as strange and unique as deformed dolls is another aspect that we all agreed would attract teenagers.

What we did to attract

teenagers

• We used teenaged actors

• The actors characters were portrayed in a fashion that other teenagers could relate to.

• We used settings teenagers are familiar with eg: street at night, psychiatrist office etc

• Our storyline was edgy and unpredictable

• Our music was tense and enticing, yet also catchy

Why we used teenaged actors

• Statistics show that people who match the age group of a character in a film are more likely to favour and connect with them. By having our only actresses as teenagers in our trailer, teenagers are going to remember that film as being made for them, not other age groups. Individuality is important to teenagers, and if something as large as a film is only targeted towards teenagers, they’re more likely to enjoy it.

Why we portrayed the

characters in the manner we

did.• Jodie, though a teenager herself, played the role

of an adult, and a professional psychiatrist. We presented her as stuck up, dull and not understanding Anna’s situation. Close to every teenager goes through a rebellious stage, and views adults as dull and uninformed. By portraying Jodie’s character as a stereotypical big headed adult, a regular teenager is very likely to agree with this, and remember the film as understanding them, which many teenager find difficult in real life adults and authority.

Why we portrayed the

characters in the manner we

did.• Anna’s character is a teenager, and was written to be

depressed, insane and scared; aspects a teenager is very familiar with. She played the role with as much emotion as she could muster, and being emotional is very common in teenagers. A smaller reason we cast her for this role was her hair; bright red dye. The contrast of red dye to natural blond shows the difference between teenagers and adults, and this line is very important to teenagers. Her black, baggy clothes are another sign of rebellion, and another contrast to Jodie’s formal suit attire, once again drawing the line between the two age groups.

Our settings

• It is common that a teenager will seek professional help to cope with personal issues and stress at some point in their teenage years. The use of a psychiatrist office familiar, and subconsciously scary, as the thought of being mentally unstable is unsettling to most. Anna’s scenes on the street at night is another common setting for the average teenager. It can be symbolic to freedom, but given Anna’s reaction and the appearance of the dolls, it symbolises the darker, more dangerous side of the street, which for any youth could lead to serious injury, prison or worse. It is because of these subconscious thoughts that we chose these settings to suit our audience.

Our storyline

• A teenaged girl being driven insane by deformed dolls. Chucky, Dead Silence, famous thrillers that use creepy dolls. Deforming dolls is like deforming childhood, which is unsettling to most but especially too teenagers, who have recently had to let go of childhood to deal with studies and the future, so the topic is particularly core striking. Insanity is often associated with the changes that a teenager experiences through stress, personal issues and depression. Teenagers often prefer the extreme ends of most things, and insanity is a popular topic as it is unknown, loud and scary; interesting and nerve wracking on the big screen.

Our Music

• Our choice of music was dark, eerie and tense. Music is more than often a large part of a teenagers life, as it can be used to express feelings, it can be relatable and is a common hobby. Because our music was composed by teenagers, we were able to capture the essence of rebellion and individuality that is so important to a teenagers life, and we knew what teenagers prefer to hear, and what truly can scare us.

Our Thriller…

• Was made by teenagers, for teenagers. The dark topic of insanity, the quirky yet disturbing use of deformed dolls, and the portrayal of age groups and character have been developed over the months to fit our age groups’ personal preferences which we learnt through surveys and personal experience. We hoped to capture the essence of what teenagers want to see, and twist our fears to truly wrack our senses from the inside.