Questions 4 and 5Understanding Audiences, Forms and Conventions

Question 4: who would be the audience for your media product?

Crime films usually contain a certain level of violence and distressing images which makes the film enticing for the male audience. Also, the appeal of crime films derive from the fact that the protagonist's stories are glorified. He may be interested in crime films such as ‘Goodfellas’, ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Untouchables’ which focus on characters involved in the underworld. As a result, the crime lifestyle is made attractive to my target audience.

He would make consistent visits to the cinema to watch more crime films. Also, he may watch thrillers and horrors because they have the similar violent themes throughout.

My Target audience would most likely wear a branded hoodie with tracksuit bottoms, perhaps bought cheaply in a sale because of their part-time employment. This, and their trainers, would possibly be made by ‘Nike’ or ‘Adidas’ because this portrays the ‘sporty’ and masculine nature. Moreover, they are likely to wear ‘Beats’ headphones because they suit modern technology and are universally seen as ‘trendy’.

At home, he is likely to play video games alone or with friends. These could include games such as Grand Theft Auto V because it allows you to organise ‘heists’ which reflect the crime world. The console choice could be an Xbox 360 or PS3 because it is in-keeping with modern trends.

My target audiences’ choice of mobile phone would be the Apple IPhone to replicate their social status and advance with modern times.

The general target audience for my crime film is specifically males aged 18 - 26. This will also be the certificate of my crime film.

The typical class status that would watch films in the crime genre would range from ‘C1’ to ‘B’ class because people from working and middle classes would generally conform to the characters presented.

My target audience would also watch television programmes such as ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘The Wire’ and ‘The Sopranos’ because they all present crime and ‘mob’ lifestyles. They would be watched most likely all in one go on a format like Netflix so that they do not have to sit through the adverts and wait for the next air date.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?To satisfy my target audiences’ desire to see conational crime forms being used, I included a scene in which the hostage experienced a near-death experience as the gangster withdraws a menacing revolver. This has a mode of address upon the target audience

Mobster from Manhattan’sMode of address

I attracted my target audience to my film by my use of props. For example, the gangster’s car, an Audi A6, has a mode of address that replicates how their wealth is paraded to demonstrate status. Furthermore, it is a car unlike one they are likely to have driven before and as a result, they are visually compelled to watch the cars usage in the film.My script is a good example of the

mode of address in my film because I made the characters speak in a New York-esque dialect. To reflect the stereotypical speech of crime characters. To further portray the dialect, I included exclamations and non-standard spellings like “Ya” and “huh” to address my target audience’s expectations.

Included in feedback from my target audience, one commented on the realism of the script

The Storyline in my script delves straight into the action from the beginning much like Goodfellas. My last shot of the gangster’s eyes opening has a mode of address which attracts the audiences’ curiosity because it leads them to ask question about his survival.