Target Audience Research

Who is my target audience?

During the process of creating the Impossible Goal I took influence from previous female football films in order to have my own style and opinion on the subject. My target audience is between the ages of 9-12, as Stephanie is the age that I am trying to expose to sport. I like the idea of having a strong female character that is in her early teens, as this is area that is not covered by the film medium as much as I would like it.

When I investigated into female football films in the last decade I noticed a gap in the market for my target audience. There is a lack of female football films in the film industry, mainly because of its suppression and lack of media coverage from 2000-20010. From personal experience, I didn't have a female football player to look up to until April 2010, when the official women's Super League started. I believe because of this lack of coverage football films with female leads where scarce, but I was able to track down three films that embody the attitudes of the media to female football at the time, and how this effects my target audience.

Films/ Documentary that focus on women in the last decade

Bend it like Beckham
Released: 2002
Genre: Comedy/ Drama

Pressure Makes Us
Date Release: June 2011
Genre: Documentary/ Promotion

The 99ers
Date released: 2013
genre: Documentary

How do these products market themselves towards my target audience?

With all three examples, the films vary in how they market themselves towards the audience. With the 99ers was released as part of an ESPN breakfast show special, showing a one hour documentary on the development of football in hope of aspiring fellow youth players. ESPN began screening female football in 2010 after the surprise success of the Super League. This not only opened up the sport to young girls but also conveyed the rise of the US women's football team way before mainstream success.

I was disappointed with the representation of women in Bend It Like Beckham, as the girls are not taken seriously in the sport. The girls can be seen walking around in sports bras, whereas comparing this to the many male football films, few show skin so explicitly. I was impressed however, by the diversity of race and religion in the film, and felt this was a good moral message to convey to younger audiences in order to prevent social prejudices in later years.

Pressure Makes Us is by far the most motivational and impressive of the last decade. Produced by the sport brand Nike, the idea behind the marketing is to focus on the women's talent rather than a particular brand. I was impressed by this representation which took football seriously, creating new role models for females and young girls.
This is something I have included in my own film, giving the audience a role model that they can follow until the end of the narrative. I wanted by audience to be invested in my protagonist even if they are not into the sport particularly. I used the drama convention of the underdog in order to stimulate the audience:

Underdog
Definition: A competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest

How did I use this convention to interest my target audience?

 

I used the cinematography in these shots to allow the audience to align with their hero. By having a shallow depth of field I allow the audience to hear what Jane is saying but not allow her to have any power in the scene. This reflects Stephanie's physiological status during the scene and manipulate the audience to follow Stephanie with her battle. 

 

This help magnitude the effect of the goal as Stephanie attempts a shot. The goal outweighs her, but Stephanie's action to carry on anyway gives the audience a reason to retain interest in her character. By doing so the younger audience members can become inspired by the protagonist's efforts, even if it is not in the context of football but simply standing up for yourself. 

Empire Hard copy: Layout

Empire Hard copy: Layout

Opening page: In Cinemas

Title: The opening page consists of the title, slanted on the side of the page. This draws attention to the opening image, a striking shot summerising the movie in one image. In this example, DiCaprio stands defiant as he battles for survial in a long shot, which enforces the battles he is about to encur in the narrative. the titled angle of the shot gives the audiernce an inishgt in the dominance of the character and the role DiCaprio will play in the film. By doing so, EMPIRE give important infomation to the reader in order to help them make a well informed choice at the cinema.

My Magazine: I plan to have a page spread similar to this house style, using the image to summarize to the reader what my film embodies in terms of themes and style. The title 'In cinema' is interesting and I hope to experiment with this in my later drawings

Borders: Three lines separate the font, giving the house style a retro take on art deco. I liked this choice of art because it combines with the 'In Cinema' font, which I will use in my final review print, enforcing the House style of my magazine.

My Magazine: A house style that uses a cool colour palette would suit my style better, as it allows the eye to be drawn onto the image and see the visual clearly:
Page Numbers: the numbers match the colours of the red house style, which is plan to emulate in my designs.

Above: the Splash for EMPIRE

Star rating: The rating gives the viewer an idea of the review at a glance, allowing them to decide whether to invest their time into the material. This is an interesting use of the splash as it allows the browsing reader to judge the look of the review before investing in it, giving them a sense of achievement for showing it.

My Magazine: I plan to use this star rating to draw the audience in, using the

Brief information: Underneath the stars the text gives information on the release date/ certificate number/ run time (minutes). This gives the reader the impression of the film and the audience it is aiming at, for example, Spotlight is aimed at a mature audience (15 cert.), letting the reader know of it's serious subject matter.

Director and Cast: This source of information is valuable for the niche of EMPIRE readers, as it gives the magazine change to reel in its audience with the attraction of an all star cast or an award winning entourage. 

My Magazine: I want to take influence from this theme because my audience would read a magazine similar to this layout. However I am using unknown stars for my film, so I will experiment with the placement of this information, say, at the side of the article rather than before it, due to the lack of audience engagement in this particular category. 

Plot: I like the use of a turquoise colour for the font since it clearly defines it from the following text. The font is simple enough to read and does not distract from the message of the film.
My Magazine: As mentioned above, the use of colour is effective in catching the readers attention, and I plan to do this in order to draw my audience into the new material. I am aware my narrative is not a mainstream blockbuster, but I plan to have the audience not drawn in by the celebrities but the idea of a stereotypical narrative (the Underdog) being told in a new perspective (a Female Footballer)

Above: Added Details

Bold Font: A simple bold font with a side rectangle plays on the art deco theme of the piece as well as defining the text from the other sources of information. 

My Magazine: I plan to use the bold font in my spread, allowing the audience to define the difference between my spread and the review.

Distance: The distance between each set of texts prevents the eye from being cluttered from a glance. This gives the layout a sleek first impression that is organised and planned.

My Magazine: I plan to use the spacing to give my magazine a sense of order and structure, possibly using breaks in between the stanzas rather than clunks of text. I shall experiment with this in Photoshop during the creative process.

Above: EMPIRE ending

Writer: The writer is placed at the end of the text, acting like a punctuation mark for the end of the text. I liked the placement of this because it allows for the hours colours to be reinforced once again, but also acknowledges the writer, allowing the consumer to judge the work and be attracted to the authors next spread because of the themes in their text.

Page Number: A simple number at the side of the page. This prevents distraction from the page and allows the reader to focus on the important details of the image.

Logo: Inspecting closely, the EMPIRE logo can be seen in the margins of the grey background, This gives a professional look to the magazine that I intend to emulate, giving the impression of a long time running magazine that can be trusted in its resources. 

My magazine:  I intend to use this to give my magazine. The 'March 2016' is a good touch to add to the magazine, as it gives the impression of a house style that is constantly changing with the times and gives the user gratification that they have chosen the correct product. 

EMPIRE vs. Sight and Sound: Internet Edition

EMPIRE vs. Sight and Sound

Whilst drafting a poster for my final product, I am researching into different house styles that I can take inspiration for my poster.

language styles (what do they think is more important than one another?)

Opening Page- Banner and Splash

The name of the film that is being reviewed is written inside a red box, linking it into Empire’s house style. The social media buttons are easy to access, with simple details  for the social media logos of Twitter, Face Book and Pinterest. These are all visual social media sites that allow the large images to be prominent in the house style.

The top of the article has a moving image, detailing the main characters and theme of the film. This gives the reader the ability to glance over the review and decide whether to read it or not, with the article giving the reader enough information to make that judgement.

The colour naturally draws the eye to ‘Spotlight Review’ and gets the reader to start reading the black bold font below. The text is straight to the point and gives a reverting summary of what the reader can expect from the film. A splash of stars connotes the importance of being able to access visuals quickly and if the article is worth reading. By having these ratings the readers is more connected to the writer, as their venting of the disappointing performance can gain a response from the reader, and increase the popularity of the magazine.

Sight and Sound, on the other hand is a lot more humble in appearance. Dressed in a grey background, its main target is to bring in regular customers. The BFI Logo are the brightest part of the screen, which draws in the readers eye. This is a seal of quality, and the customer can be assured that the reviews in this magazine are to the best quality.

Quote and Red House Style

The thin red line divides the statement eloquently, allowing the layout to look professional and well organised. There is linking of the red colour palette again, allowing the red white and black colour palette to blend in with the various films the reviewer may cover. This allows there to be definition between the fix of font sizes

A bold comment defines the article with a certain style, giving an insight into the tone of the film. I like the idea of using this in my house and possibly using a signature colour to implement the audience my magazine is aiming for. Instead of Red, I could use another bright colour, such as a blue or green, depending on the tone I want to go for in my film.

Trailer Link 

One of the major differences between Sight and Sound and Empire is Empire's decision to use a video at the end of their review. This is a media format that is more commercial and allows the spread of a scene or trailer to be passed among social media websites, such as FaceBook or Twitter.

Sight and Sound may not have such a presence in social media formats, but its theory and analytical works make up for its social media differences. Clearly there is a difference in audience here, with Empire aiming for a more mainstream audience, whereas BFI'S Sight and Sound having a more sophisticated presentation.

Down below there are links to other reviews as well as a quick summary of other links to other films. I like the idea of this being at the bottom of my review, as I can link to other films and give the impression of a running magazine.

Sight and Sound did not have any links at the bottom of their page but did have a visuals that showed the viewer a sneak peak into the magazine edition of the review. Although the words are too small to read, Sight and Sounds main impression is to convey it's rich visuals which balance it's in depth analysis. 

Poster ideas

Poster Ideas

I am toying with the idea of the protagonist being shown in a close up or a medium close up. The close up would be used in idea one, but the second tutorial I think would look better with Stephanie looking down to the ball, with the football pitch being the mountainous background. 

I will have to call in the actress to take photos which I can control. I will get several medium close ups and medium long shots.

Quote merging with the face

I like the idea of using black and white in my photos to add to a gritty effect. I want to use clear colours such as black, white, and possibly green to give this effect. 

The close up of the protagonist will show how the audience are meant to position with, and the expression of her face will give an idea of an underdog. I like the idea of Stephanie looking just above the camera, as if looking up to what she must face.

                 

Double Exposure

I like the use of the cool colours of this poster, and if the black and white did not work out, I would consider using this as part of my house. 

I feel this poster will embody the idea of Stephanie's isolation as well as showing how the sport is part of her. 

The colours have a deep richness to them, and this really gives the double exposure a  

                

These poster can reveal what the protagonist is thinking or what is important to them. The first poster is not an official Breaking Bad Poster, but it sums the ideas of the protagonists aims and goals. The double exposure is very small and doesn't distract from the main image. 

The second photo has similar ideas to what I wish to do, conveying the psyche of the character before seeing the film.
The third photo does work well in quality, but the white top is the fault in this photo. There is not enough contrast in the photo leading to the viewer squinting to see what is double exposed. Instead of taking the viewer by surprise and awe, the result leaves them a little cheated. 

The use of the cream colour is something I would like to experiment with, but my idea of having a medium close up may not as well as I intended. 

TARGET MGS POSTERS AND REVIEW

• analyse a range of reviews from the following publications:
• Sight and Sound, Empire, and another of my choice
• Look at the following elements:
• Element one: layout, house style, font
• Element two: Images used, tagline, splashes (stars etc)
• Element three: vocabulary used, how narrative is discussed, how film form is analysed, are there any links to previous directors/ films, 
• Element four: Tone and target audience 

Poster Analysis: Pressure Makes Us

Poster Analysis: Inspiration for My Own Poster

As I have discussed before on the blog, Pressure Makes Us is the main inspiration for the tone of the film. Although I did not watch any films to inspire me for this particular shoot, I took inspiration from my own experiences.

Below is Analysis from my main source: Pressure Makes Us. I circled areas of the posters that I thought where interesting, and possibly a motif I can put into my own poster.

Poster 1: Driving Forward

Title

The titles are strong and printed in capital letters, giving the image a strong an impact look. The titles are placed off to the left allowing them to balance the frame out with the athlete. 

Subtitle

The subtitle is placed underneath the title to guide the eye naturally to the text. 'Follow' connotes that we are part of the team, creating a sense of a unit and a force to be reckoned with. The thinner font looks typed on, but continues the same motif of De-saturated brown that gives the poster its gritty look. 

Football

The football in the shot ads kinetic energy to the poster. The viewer does not feel like they are seeing a static image, but watching a freeze frame from an intense game of football. 

This is something that I am hoping to reciprocate in my poster, whether that be through an action shot or a posed image of Stephanie taking the shot. 

Body Position 

The body position of the athlete gives more kinetic energy to the poster. This is useful to see how the angle o the body can emulate the emotion of the poster.

Poster 2: In the Tunnel

                  

Title
The title is once again used to balance out the facial features of the athlete, letting the eyes of the viewer bounce from one item to the next. The repetition of the font from the previous poster allows the promotions to be clustered together, emulating the same emotional tones that where insinuated in the first poster.

Facial Features
The expression on the athlete is perhaps the most important subject of the photo. The harsh lighting on the right hand side of her face gives emphasis to the object she is staring up at, 

Poster 3: Triangle design

Title

Facial Features

Initial Ideas

Image One: Stephanie looking out onto the Astro turf with a Bib in her hands. This shows her stature within society (A substitute), her needs as a character (to play football)  and the obstacle which blocks her (The football team)

Image Two: Stephanie looking down. See her face from underneath, towering block highlighting her from above. Give her a suppressed image but also a defiant outline using the light.

Overall I like the kinetic energy in the first poster as it adds depth to the film; however, I believe the later has more emotion due to its cinematography and stark lighting techniques. I hope to emulate this in the photo I create which will help sell the emotions of the film. 

TARGET MGS

Do the Poster Analysis. Pick out two posters, (Extended to this Friday) pick out two to three for the best freeze frames. Consider how these shots might communicate the messages and values of my production.