Audience

Audience

My film proposal will appeal to the major cinema audience of 15-25 year olds. This is because my film is based on a mundane family’s life being changed for the worst after the youngest daughter has been kidnapped.

My target audience would be teenagers, who can relate to the eldest daughter who was put in charge of her younger sister but doesn’t do the job that is required to keep her safe. However, I hope that my film also appeals to the elder generation, who have kids and whose worst nightmare is to lose a child. But, my film is not specifically aimed at one group because of the mundane situation that the film begins with, everyone can relate to. It will also raise their awareness of how suddenly a person’s life can be turned on its head.

Audiences who have enjoyed films such as ‘Taken’, ‘Payback’ and ‘Edge of Darkness’ will enjoy my film because of the idea of a father’s strong bond with his daughter prevailing over evil. Therefore, the niche audience that my film will mainly appeal to are parents who can relate to the anxiety of the father after losing his daughter. This niche audience will also be interested in my film because of its ‘normal day life’ feel which makes the film very realistic and believable.

The classification I would give my film would be a 15. This is because later on in the film there will be violent scenes between the kidnapper and the father. Especially in one scene, where strong language and graphic violence, i.e. blood, will be used. This scene in itself may be too disturbing for younger viewers and will therefore fall into the classification of a 15. As the past of the father is revealed, showing his bad relationship with his wife and his history as a spy, mature scenes with sexual activity and violence will be used, this reinstates that my film contains scenes which younger viewers shouldn’t watch. 

Recently, we looked at the description of a classified 15 film on the British Board of Film Classification and then tried to apply this to our film. For example, later on in our film, to heighten tension and verisimilitude, we hoped for our main character to use strong language, which would bring emotion and power to this character. BBFC's guidelines on language for a 15 film : 'There may be frequent use of strong language. The strongest  terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.' Looking at the same website, we would have to take into consideration the level of violence we would aim to have in our film to make it exciting and graphic at time. When it comes to violence this is what they have to say: 'Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.' In conclusion then, we would have to be careful with the levels of gory violence (i.e blood) and strong language for our film to be classified as a 15 and therefore able to be addressed to our target audience.
 
JK

Plot Sequence

We plan to call our film ‘Retribution’ since it is the story of a man whose young daughter is kidnapped and he seeks revenge for her death and throughout the film secrets from his past will be revealed.

The two minute opening scene will cross cut between two different scenes. This will establish location, one being set inside a house and the other outside at the local supermarket. It will also add to the narrative of the story.

After the opening titles have appeared, the beginning shot will be of the family inside the house. It will be set up to appear as the typical family home, with photographs on the walls and toys on the floor. The scene will be set in early evening in winter, meaning it will be dark outside however the children are still up and the dad is cooking supper.

Having noticed there’s no milk in the fridge, he will engage in a short conversation with his elder daughter who is in her early teens, telling her to look after her sister and that he’s just popping out for a bit. She will be upstairs, leaning over the banister and will put on headphones and go back to her room, showing the audience she won’t be able to hear what is going on downstairs and this will be emphasized with diegetic sound of the music.

The camera will then follow the dad to the front door and there will be a shot of him closing it shut, showing the audience that it was properly closed when he left. As this is happening, his young daughter will open a music box and the song will play throughout the opening, since it is a creepy tune which also relates to childhood. There will then be a POV shot of the dad from a bush outside as he gets into his car. This will give the audience a sense of unease as it will make them feel like someone is watching him leave.

The scene will then cut back to the house where we will see the younger daughter playing with her dolls in the kitchen. She will be on the floor and a high angle shot may be used to make her appear small, weak and innocent. Additionally she will be wearing pink pyjamas which will also highlight the fact she is very young and innocent.

The scene will switch back to the dad who is now waiting in line at the supermarket. In the queue he will look frustrated and worried, checking his watch which will suggest to the audience that he is concerned about his children and wants to get home as quickly as possible.

The scene will continue to cross cut between the two locations showing the young daughter again, quietly playing with the music box still lightly playing which will build suspense. Cutting back to the dad we will see him walking back up to the house carrying shopping bags and the music will stop. This will be followed by a shot of the room where the girl was and the box open however there will be no one there.

Finally, the camera will cut back to the dad as he reaches the front door and realises it is ajar. This relates back to the earlier shot of the obviously closed door, ensuring the audience knows that someone is there.

To finish, the scene will end on a cliff-hanger. The ‘ordinary man’ image the audience will have built up throughout the first few minutes of the scene will be completely changed as the man will drop his shopping and draw a gun from his pocket, using it to slowly push the door open into a dark hallway. This action will give the audience insight into the man’s past therefore when he discovers his daughter is gone, they know he will definitely seek revenge, and more secrets will unravel.

KDS


When it comes to fitting our film into the thriller genre, the build up of tension until a climax and having the audience on the "edge of their seats" right up until the end of the film with the complication of our narrative, I believe, explains why our film would be classified as a thriller. With this anxiety for the audience from our film, we hope to attract those who enjoy other thrillers similar to ours, to come and see our film. We would aim the film towards the target audience of 15-24 year olds and hope to attract niche audiences such as those who can relate to the father, and therefore probably to be of an older generation.

JK