5. How did you attract/address your audience?

When advertising a film it is important to think about the best ways to reach your target audience. For example. If advertising an 18 slasher film, advertising on products such as food (i.e macdonalds) won't be very useful, however a PG childrens animation and macdonalds products would go hand in hand. Considering the age rating for our production is certificate 15, I believe the best ways to reach the audience would be television, cinema, internet virals, and busses or busstops. I chose television because most of the population watch television every day. A teenager gets home from school and watches his or her favorite shows, families often watch television during dinner, and it's often on for the most of the evening. Even if the teenager themself does not see the ad, their friends or family might, and reccomend it to them, or even invite them to go and see it. Similarly, internet virals would also be good to advertise our films because teenagers also spend alot of time on the internet. Sites like facebook, myspace, and hotmail would be ideal places to advertise a film aimed at teenagers. Sites like this are often visited by teenagers. Myspace promote many music artists, commedians, and films on a dailly basis. Trailers can be easily linked to or embedded on websites, and can be made eye catching to draw the viewer in. Cinema is always a good place to advertise a film. Just the atmosphere of the cinema makes a trailer more effective, as the viewer is already in the mood to watch their film. The big screen, the curtains, the low lights, and the surround sound all help towards the atmosphere, giving a trailer an effect you cant fully achieve through a television or computer screen. It makes more of an impact on the viewer. Bus stop and bus advertisements aren't exactly the most popular of advertisements, and one can't really imagine themselves being affected by an advertisement on a bus or bus shelter. But after a week at school teenagers want to get out of the house and have a bit of fun. This will often involve public transport especially around the age of 15, as driving is not an option. Even if the advertisement doesn't make the people want to go see the film, it may make them want to look it up if its the first they've heard of it, or it could well make them talk about it, spreading word and making it more known.
We also had a screening of our film to an audience, and gave out a questionnaire with questions on what the audience thought about the production. The feedback was mostly positive. Many commented on how our films narrative was unique, and how it was easy to recognise the genre through the change of worlds (reality/alternate world) and yet how it was bending conventions by being grittier as opposed to glamorous, like with most fantasy films. Due to our feedback being mostly positive I believe we achieved reaching our audience with moderate success. Keeping in mind that most of the people that viewed our production were 16, we were a little over the age range, but not too close to the next certificate (18).