Thriller Audiences

When discussing thriller there are large variety of audiences that will be attracted to different types of thriller films. In thriller there are a large variety of sub-genres which are the key area which sets apart one audience from another. However, there are other aspects which directors use to differentiate between different groups. They are:

Social Profiling

This is where groups are organised into different categories based on how much they are earning. The profile is A,B,C1,C2,D and E with A being at the top and E being at the bottom. In this way, every single person based on this social profile will all have similar tastes. However, i think that this is a bad way in terms of seeing audiences. One person who is 45 and unemployed, might not like the same film as the old age pensioner. Therefore, in terms of audiences using social profiling would not be very helpful. If i was to use Social profiling however the area the profile that i would be targeting C2 and E because that is going to be most likely the target audience that are going to be watching the film. This is because the target audience that we have chosen in terms of film rating and audience is for teenagers aged 15+. However, as said before the problem is that one person who is aged 15 wont necessarily like what another 15 year old likes. This is why this way to find audiences is not very helpful.

Demographic Profiling
This is the next area of audiences where you are able to see the typical audiences of thriller. For demographic profiling, it to can be split into categories (age, gender,race,location). This is one of the best ways to find out the typical audiences of thriller. People who are around the same age will have a similar taste to each other, meaning that someone in their 40's might not like something that a teenager might like, the same counts with gender. Therefore, as a whole you will be getting accurate results compared to that of social profiling. For using demographic profiling the area that i will use in terms of category is for age. The age group as said before is the 15+ age area as we are able to relate to their interests being a similar age. The reason why i will not be using the other categories for demographic profiling is because for example, gender and sexuality do not really matter in this context as we are trying to aim it for everybody.

Psychographic Profiling
The last area of profiling attempts to build up example profiles to represent the type of people who make up the target audience. Questions would be answered such as: What is your name,age,gender? With all this you go deeper into the audiences views which can help target your audiences better. However, unlike demographic profiling, it is quite tedious and would take a lot of time to gather all of the necessary information. In terms of psychographic profiling the audiences will most likely be aimed at reformers as they will be challenging some of the things which are found in the film. However, the reason why this is not a logical choice to use at all is because as said before it is very time consuming.

In terms of sub-genre The Interpreter which is a political thriller, won't appeal to teenagers for example so therefore creating a political opening sequence targeted at teenagers would not work well. However, aimed at older people such as in the 30's might have a larger success. Therefore, the critical thing when creating an opening sequence is the different sub-genres, as they all have a different affect depending on the audiences.

For the project that i am working on choosing a relevant sub-genre is key to its success. Choosing a genre which is not suited for the age group (teenagers) then the opening sequence will lose what it is intended to do, which is to thrill people. However, a relevant sub-genre could be crime-thriller. A lot of teenagers like to see crimes on films and TV and how they slowly unravel. Therefore because of that the film age rating is likely going to be in the 15+ area. Because of this age group chosen a lot more things that wouldn't be allowed in a U film such as violence can be shown in the 15+ film. However, that is not to say that some of the elements that make it a 15 will appear in the opening sequence such as swearing.

The BBFC Classifications Guidelines 

The British Board of Film Classification is a British company which is responsible for putting on the age ratings for movies, films and games, by first analysing the clips and then coming to a judgement. In terms of thriller U and PG thriller films are not usually found mostly because if a young child was to watch it they might be affected deeply by it. Therefore, it is critical that the BBFC gets the guidelines right. Even though the thriller film is aimed at 15+ and to a degree potentially 12+ I will still be discussing the other rating such as U and PG but mentioning why they will not be used.

U Age Rating

The U age rating is the rating which everyone aged four and over can see. For thriller U age ratings are never used in it as certain scenes would obviously be disturbing to the child, and therefore the use of violence is limited. Additionally in U films there will be no extreme language used, with the only exception being damn or hell, and even bloody. However, all these have to be justified to the context. The most significant parts however, is the violence and in terms of "scary moments" which is the reason why the U rating would not work well. There may be brief scenes where the character/characters are placed in a situation of danger or violence, but these will be resolved quickly and will usually have light hearted music to make it seem better than it actually is. Also if weapons are to be used there will be no actually showing of it being used. For the opening sequence of the thriller film, this is one of the reasons why it the age rating cannot be U. In the opening there will be long prolonged scenes of scary moments where characters are placed in danger for a long time which as a whole, builds the suspense and tension. Because of this restriction being placed on the U Age ratings the age rating cannot be placed as a U as some scenes are inappropriate.

One example of a U film is Up. Even though the main character is put into a tough situation,and the antagonist has a weapon, both of these are restricted to the point where they are quickly resolved. This is why Up is giving that rating.











PG Age Rating
The PG age rating is the rating which is not suitable for everyone (children aged four and under) and requires parental guidance as there are some scenes which may be unsuitable for a young child. For a thriller film PG ratings just like U ratings would not used as the BBFC guidelines recommend that it should be for children aged eight and over. Therefore, because my target audience for the thriller opening is teenagers the content would not be suitable to use a PG rating. In PG films certain attitudes such as smoking or drinking, although, not being used in my thriller opening, will have to be shown that they are wrong and should not be done. Again, as it is a thriller film aged for teenagers if it was needed "smoking" would be done. Violence should be limited to where there should be no detail of it, certain injuries should not be shown in great detail as again it is a PG, and so a lot of scenes would be restricted. The most important aspect that in the context of thriller is needed is possibly "jump" scenes and scary scenes. For PG films some of these are allowed. However, the reason why the age rating for the thriller film would not a PG is because prolonged scenes of threat are not allowed and the threat cannot be realistic. Due to this, as the thriller opening does need to include some of this and has to have prolonged scenes to add suspense and tension, the PG rating therefore cannot be used.

12A Age Rating
12A age rating films can be seen by children under the age of 12, however they must be accompanied  by an adult (someone over the age of 18). However, despite this taking very young children is to be avoided as some scenes may be very detailed which may be unsuitable for the child. It is because of this reason where detail is needed where the opening sequence could possibly be a 12A rating. The key reason why the thriller opening for audiences could not be 12A is because there cannot be any emphasis on injuries or blood. In the opening sequence, if doing a crime thriller someone is going to get hurt, so there possibly has to be emphasis on how the person got hurt. For example, the film Eagle Eye is an American Thriller film which is a 12 rating. From the film some scenes cannot be prolonged due to the particular age rating and some scenes cannot be frequently used. This is why again the 12A rating cannot be used, for the sole fact that again all this needs to be used when filming. Overall, the detail that is possibly needed in a 15 age rating cannot be used in a 12A age rating.

15 Age Rating
The 15 age rating is the key audience which for my thriller opening sequence i will be targeting. As the age suggests no one under the age of 15 is allowed to see the film. Therefore, a lot of the things that wouldn't be allowed in a 12A film such as stronger violence could be allowed here. If violence was needed in the opening sequence, such as possibly a struggle between two characters it can easily be shown due to the violence being strong, however, this would possibly be not needed in the opening sequence. As many thriller films are rated 15, there can be strong threat and more jump scenes then that of a 12A. This strong sense of threat can be used in the opening sequence of the thriller which can lead to added tension. Due to this, and being allowed to add this emphasized threat, the age rating for the sequence is going to be 15.

18 Age Rating 

The final age rating that could be considered is the 18 age rating. At this rating anything as long as within the law can be used. However, the reason why the age rating is not going to be for the sequence is because it is not needed. In the sequence there is not going to be any strong violence used. Thrill will be used throughout but that nothing that needs to be considered into the 18 age rating. Going into the 18 rating for me seems to go into the horror genre where very strong violence and gory images can be used. As these aren't needed in the thriller opening sequence i have decided against this age rating.