TARGET AUDIENCES:

The target audience is the percentage of people, film makers consider to cater to while making a media product. It can be categorized in two ways, demographic and sociological. These consist of the following; age and gender, income (profession), residence and social back ground. On the other hand attitudinal demographics and sociological can be classified as another category. These consist of; intensions, habits, likes and dislikes, responses, behavior etc.

It is a must for film makers to be aware of all these things of their particular target audience, only then they know how to cater to them. Knowing what age and gender your target audience belongs to help film makers know what kind of films they like, their income levels help them to know what amount they’d be willing to pay to watch a film, and their professional life helps them in analyzing when they have time to consume the product.

Interests on the other hand are very important while making a film. If your target audience has a high percentage of boys between the age of 13 to 25, then you know your product will be consumed most if it caters to genres like action, horror or thriller, but if your target audience has a high percentage of girls between the age of 13 to 25, you should know they’re probably expecting a chick flick or a love story. This is how audience affects your product.

Coming to my own film, I have researched and managed to find out, that for an art film, my target audience consists of multi-sex people, mainly above the age of thirty with high income levels. Also, their interests are more towards consuming whatever conveys an sort of intellect, rather than enjoyment n entertainment. My target audience also consists of art film critics and scholars, who would watch the film in order to observe it completely, including its presentation, construction, story and mise-en-sene.

Their age tells me that they want a mature film with a mature story line, closer to reality which they can relate to. Also, they are grownups, so the use of indirect language throughout the movie can be easily understood, however, media language must be easy to read. These people often come to consume such products with immense interests, mainly due to their habits and likes and also because this film line is small and art films tend to release within gaps, leaving them curious and anxious to watch it.

Income levels make it easier for art film makers. They already know their audience is full of intellectual people with classy and open minded backgrounds having enough money to consume their product, more than just once, or very often. Their backgrounds are mainly from the elite, or educated class, which enables them to critically analyze the product and accordingly, give the truthful response to it.

All these things about my target audience will help me know, what type of scenes I can shoot, what media language I can use, what my mese-en-sene should look like, keeping in mind what my audience is expecting, what type of music they would approve of, and what story would appeal to them to the level that they relate to it.