Evaluation - 2

 2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Target Audience Research 

Demographics of audience:

• Age – probably more older adults, i.e. 20s-30s, as more teens would be less familiar with the tailor shop, whereas these young adults may go to the tailor for custom-made clothing, rather than significantly older people (given the movie is a psychological thriller). 

• Gender – females, more or less than males.

• Given the fact that the lead is a female killer, which is not a conventional representation, shows less depth as the reasons behind her killings are not revealed at all, therefore they need to be explained, whilst with men, it’s a conventional and very commonly seen representation, and therefore there’s no need for reasoning. 

Typically with the female representation in thrillers, they tend to be the victims, i.e. “the damsel(s) in distress”, are often viewed as being ‘weak’ and moreover, powerless. However, with my film, my lead character overpowers her victims, as she closely knows her victim (more well than typical men serial killers).

Class – middle-upper class, are more likely to watch my film, as they are more able to afford customised clothing, and may have a much higher disposable income as compared to lower classes. According to the Office for National Statistics in the UK, the average household disposable income was at 31,400 pounds in the year ending of 2021. 

Ways in which they consume media contexts:

My audience are more inclined to take risks in their media consumption, as they enjoy different films that interest them, despite it being unusual or different to what they may usually expect to see. My film is completely different from the conventional spectrum of typical psychological thrillers one might expect. My audience is not entirely likely to be ‘peer pressured’ into watching content in order to fit in/be part of the current ‘conversation’, as they’re risk-takers and are therefore not susceptible to wanting to watch just because everyone’s talking about it, but rather due to the reviews and ratings of the movies.

They also enjoy watching movies in various subgenres, but may have a preference for a certain genre, and move around the subgenres accordingly. My audience, being the outgoing, more risk-taking people, would want something that makes them think, question, examine almost everything to really get their films, all to really get their intellect going.  

My audience may also be attracted to different genre’s, all based on whether it excites them or makes them question things. 

My audience would’ve heard about the film from social media, through viral marketing, as there would’ve been growing awareness of my film due to its ratings and reviews, as it’s non-conventional and features a female lead serial killer, and is therefore a more powerful representation of females in media. Risk-takers went to see the film because of the pure bewilderment and ambiguity associated with it, as it’s something they don’t typically find in the thriller genre.

From my research into audiences for different thrillers I have based the following as my target audience for my psychological thriller, Stitched. 

From Pearl and Dean, I have identified that psychological thrillers have more of a male audience, in their 20s-30s, with a middle-upper class status. However, as my film doesn’t have a male lead (which is what the research shows), my audience would be more of a female audience, rather than a bigger male audience. According to the Audience Finder, my ideal target audience are metroculturals who “are interested in a wide spectrum of activity, but may tend towards their own preferred art form or style”. As my opening scene features very artistic-like movements of a needle and cutting thread, through a rhythmic montage of the needle and the character. 

My person profile is based on a 25 year old named Trixy. She's in the middle/upper class, and is a junior associate in a big business firm. She’s single and strongly believes in feminism. She has a large house and often makes use of her large 45-inch tv to watch crime series on Netflix. She’s very involved on social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter, in which she directly communicates with friends, and Twitter to get the latest news and often takes part in writing detailed reviews based on her experiences. In terms of her consumption of content, she mainly watches on Netflix, simply due to her busy schedule, but does go to the cinema if the film has thoroughly piqued her interest, or has incredibly high ratings. On her days off, she watches mainstream TV, and listens to her music on Spotify, whilst planning for the week ahead. On the weekends, she enjoys using Tiktok to share her love and enthusiasm for thrillers, with giving reviews and recommendations on her own page named, “Trixy’s cove”. 

Distribution 

My film would've been on a roughly-based amount of just over 130,000 SGD to fund, and within the film's budget, enough money was left for marketing the film, which would've taken place on social media sites, such as Instagram and Twitter to draw in attention of the young adults, through viral marketing. The successful advertising would've then led to my film being distributed to cinema's by distributors (Universal) who would've then gained lots of profit off of the viewings in the cinema. After both the cinema and the distributors have gained an equal amount of revenue, the film would then be shown on DVDs and then onto subscriptions such as Netflix.