FINAL FILM

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Evaluation Q4

Radio script

Sub genre of genre and their target audience

Thriller Audiences

Within the genre thriller, there are many sub-genres which appeal to different audiences.

Action Thrillers
This type of thriller would appeal to a younger audience compared to the other sub-genres. This is because it involves a lot more guns, car chases and explosions and doesn't require much thought. It usually attracts a male more than a female audience because of these conventions. However, occasionally females take on the heroic role in films like Tomb Raider and Charlies Angels which attracts a female audience but at the same time would attract a male audience because the heroines are attractive. Examples of action thrillers would be someJames Bond films and The Bourne Series.


Horror Thrillers
An older audience would be more likely to attract a wide older audience (ranging from teenagers to adults) because there are usually high certificates (15, 18) and are very violent and disturbing. However, because of this limit on age it could cause the younger audience to want to go and see the film even more. It would appeal to both a male and female audience as you often see couples going into the cinema - usually a scenario where the female is scared and the male will comfort her. Although there is a wide age range, you have to be a certain type of person to be able to watch horror films. For example a person with a weak stomach for violence and is easily scared wouldn't enjoy a horror thriller. Examples of horror thrillers include Jaws, Psycho, Alien and The Excorsist. 


Psychological and Mystery Thrillers
This type of thriller the conflict between the characters is often mental and emotional rather than physical which would attract perhaps a female audience slightly more than a male audience. Psychological thrillers also have some kind of mystery to work out and there can also be an element of horror in them as some can be very disturbing. Therefore would attract an older, more intelligent audience because if the audience were not able to work it out, they might find it boring. Examples of psychological thrillers include Shutter island, Phone Booth,Blue Velvet and Suspicion. 


Crime Thrillers
This sub-genre of thriller is a combination of both crime films and thrillers which explore successful or failed crimes. They usually emphasise on the criminals rather than the policemen. They usually focus more on action over psychological aspects. Topics include serial killers, murderers, robberies, chases, shootouts and heists. Because crime thrillers tend to be similar to action thrillers they attract a similar audience - more of a younger male audience. Examples of crime thrillers include Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, Ocean's 11 and Reservoir Dogs.

Legal Thrillers
In which the heroes/heroines (lawyers and their employees) confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives. They are similar to crime thrillers but obviously focus more on the lawyers rather than the criminals. They also have elements of mystery in them. This sub-genre could attract an older BC audience rather than a younger one because people with similar occupations to a lawyer may identify with the story. Examples of legal thrillers include Michael Clayton, The Pelican Brief andPrimal Fear.


There are many other sub genres of thriller like:
- Comedy Thriller
- Supernatural Thriller 
- Conspiracy Thriller
- Disaster Thriller
- Political Thriller
- Religious Thriller
- Techno Thriller
- Erotic Thriller

Why do people watch thrillers?

Why do people watch thrillers?

Using the uses and gratifications theory we are able to see that thrillers are watched for entertainment, information, social interaction; integration and personal values, therefore are a popular genre.

People watch thrillers most importantly to be entertained and thrilled - this relates to escapism, and emotional release because you get so into the film that you forget about your own problems in life and escape into it, feeling the emotions expressed within the story. Thrillers are not particularly relaxing films as they create a lot of suspense so people wouldn't watch in order to relax. Like all films, thrillers are sometimes watched to fill time also.

People may watch a thriller film to gain an insight into others' circumstances and identify with others. Maybe someone they know is in a similar situation. They are also watched for social interaction and a basis for conversation. For example films are involved in social gatherings like trips to the cinema and film nights - this then creates a basis for conversation afterward. A thriller film in particular can generate conversation because thrillers are not only action-packed but take a lot of thought to work out. The psychological aspect of a thriller film aids conversation because people like to boast about working out the ending before their friends.
A further reason why people watch thrillers is to find models of behaviour. This is because there is usually a clear difference between good and evil in this genre which could influence people to act heroically by identifying with that certain character. In addition, a person may be able to gain insight into themselves by seeing similarities between a character and themselves.

Lastly, people may want to watch a thriller for information purposes. There generally isn't a great deal a person can learn from a thriller but occasionally historical or social events are explored. For example the event of global warming is explored in many thrillers like 'The Day After Tomorrow'. Society around the world can be explored as thrillers can involve a lot of traveling, therefore seeing different parts of the world's differences. You can learn a lot about human behavior by self-educating and gain security through this knowledge.

The Hypodermic Needle Model

Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media. It is a crude model (see picture!) and suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data. Don't forget that this theory was developed in an age when the mass media were still fairly new - radio and cinema were less than two decades old. Governments had just discovered the power of advertising to communicate a message, and produced propaganda to try and sway populaces to their way of thinking. This was particularly rampant in Europe during the First World War (look at some posters here) and its aftermath.

Basically, the Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience unmediated, ie the experience, intelligence and opinion of an individual are not relevant to the reception of the text. This theory suggests that, as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media-makers. It assumes that the audience are passive and heterogenous. This theory is still quoted during moral panics by parents, politicians and pressure groups, and is used to explain why certain groups in society should not be exposed to certain media texts (comics in the 1950s, rap music in the 2000s), for fear that they will watch or read sexual or violent behaviour and will then act them out themselves.

uses and gratification theory

During the 1960s, as the first generation to grow up with television became grown ups, it became increasingly apparent to media theorists that audiences made choices about what they did when consuming texts. Far from being a passive mass, audiences were made up of individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons and in different ways. In 1948 Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for individuals and society:

• surveillance
• correlation
• entertainment
• cultural transmission

Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes (ie uses and gratifications):

• Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine.
• Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg) substituting soap operas for family life
• Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts
• Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living eg) weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains

Since then, the list of Uses and Gratifications has been extended, particularly as new media forms have come along (eg video games, the internet)

Final poster design

This is my third and final attempt at creating the film poster for our A2 short film 'Seen'. After altering and changing a similar design to this I found that adding a bit more colour and changing the placement of the title, star rating by various news papers and magazines, the steel tongs text at the base of the page and the addition of a certificate, I feel like the poster for our film is now complete.

I looked at other posters from other films (as shown in a couple of previous blog posts), conventionally the title of the film in question in placed in the centre and near the bottom of the image; so I changed the placement of the title on my poster to fit with convention, because as of earlier it was up in the top right corner; making everything in a different place too, making the whole poster not look up to scratch.

Wilhelm Scream