AUDIENCE RESEARCH & EXPECTATIONS
We researched into the types of people within the target audience of Social Realism films by carrying out a questionnaire (primary research) about their age, gender and employment status. They also looked into the most common social issues that the audience may witness or even experience which would allow us to make a film that applies to our audience. We then asked them about the different aspects of mise-en-scene as well as information on the main protagonists; we thought this would be important in ensuring that our protagonists looked like what our target audience would expect.
SURVEY RESULTS
We asked this question so that we could establish the gender of our audience. We found that the sample we were targeting was majority female however there are still a lot of males. This was important to find out as it would let us know how we could cater to our audience and how we can make our product appeal to a fairly even market.
We asked our sample their ages. We found out that 50% of our audience were teenagers and the rest young adults. This will give us an idea of how to censor our opening and helped us focus on themes and characters that can relate to the audience.
We found that dark colours such as black and navy as well as hoodies, tracksuit bottoms, trainers, balaclavas and hats were strongly associated with social realism. Props such as burner phones, weapons, drugs and dogs were were too. Asking this will help us when creating our own product as we can design our costumes so that they allow the audience to easily identify the type of character and persona we are trying to put across.
We asked this question so that we could establish the gender of our audience. We found that the sample we were targeting was majority female however there are still a lot of males. This was important to find out as it would let us know how we could cater to our audience and how we can make our product appeal to a fairly even market.
OUR SURVEY
TARGET AUDIENCE
From this research we have gathered that our target audience will consist of a younger demographic (16 to 25) from an ethnic minority (such as African, Asian or European); suggested by the uses of gratification theory, we can assume that if our audience can personally identify with our protagonist, they will engage with the film and connect with the narrative of the film which is why our target audience reflect the character profile of our protagonist. To corroborate our findings, we carried out some secondary research into what the general target audience is for social realism films that are already out there.
AUDIENCE PROFILE
We found that the typical audience for social realism films fit a certain character profile:
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CLASS: Typically a working class audience
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AGE: 16-24 (young adults)
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GENDER: Male/Female (depending on the themes involved e.g. teen pregnancy and gang crime relate to different audiences)
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ETHNICITY: Any ethnicity depending on the themes tackled (ethnic minorities can face racism/large white communities can be associated with poverty)
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NATIONALITY: British nationals seem to engage mor with social realism
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LIFESTYLE: Our audience if mst likely at uni/college/school; enjoy spending time with friends, like buying designer brands, have large families, are working, maybe have broken families
