EVALUATION - Question 4

Thriller films have a large audience, but it is dominated by males in particular. This is because most thriller films have aspects that do not suit the entertainment of females, such as action and violence. However, the thriller genre is an umbrella to many thriller sub-genres that can differ in terms of its audience in general.

Examples of some thriller sub genres:

• Romance thriller

This type of thriller is one of which that holds a vast majority of female audiences. romance is a type of genre that females may be able to relate to through emotion and feeling. action and violence are limited, as the key aspects are usually to do with love, hate, sadness and happiness. This is one of the few sub-genres that male audiences may not participate in, although male characters might take part in the film.

A famous film in this category that has had a large number of female reviews is 'An Education'.

The reviews on YouTube of this film are positive from a one sided female audience.

• Action thrillers

Action thrillers are known to be one of the most male dominated out of all in the thriller sub-genre. They tend to have a hero, a villain because the story lines usually have plots to do with saviour and revenge. The colours on the screen are mostly dark to create a strong, gloomy atmosphere (Mis-en-scene). Sounds are loud with changes of speed and tone to create excitement, engaging the audience to the mi-en-scene. The camera work would also change in a matter of quick shots to keep up the pace of the action in the plot. All of these technologies have similar contents that an action game on a console would have, such as Call of Duty. This can be a reason why the audience is male dominated, as it relates to day to day hobbies, interests and entertainment that a male teenager or adult could resort to. very young male kids watch cartoons such as action man, power rangers and many more as they get older. television and internet are two sources of technology that allow all ranges of age groups to access their favourite movies and clips which boys, teenagers and men are accessible to. A lot of action films such as Batman also have used synergy to create console products, such as games on Ps3 to bring in a larger male dominated audience of nearly all ages, but aimed at an audience from 15+.

The comments on the Facebook page of Batman
are packed with a male audience
from different countries as it is global.

A famous film in the action thriller sub-genre that has had a large number of reviews from males is Batman: The Dark Knight

• Supernatural/Horror Thrillers

Supernatural /Horror films are one of the type that have a varied audience. It does not have aspects that are norms of values of either males or females, but the the entertainment is occasional, as the jumpy and scary atmosphere that they give of do not suit daily lives or hobbies.  It would usually be dark, with a paranormal activity going on in the Mis-en-scene. The sound will vary from low sounds to instant loud sounds, to give a unusual reaction to the audience. These types of films are usually viewed by couples or more than 3 people in one group, as most audiences may not feel comfortable watching them on their own. the age range would be aimed at roughly 15-35. This can be a reason why the audience is mixed as the age range also levels out its target audience to give similar numbers from each gender.

Vary of males and female comments and reviews
on the Paranormal Activity Facebook page.

A lot of supernatural/horror thrillers, such as 'The Exorcism of Emily rose', are based on real life events, containing a source of religion to resolve the mysteries. There are many negative views on films like these, as real life horror events along with religion are publicised as entertainment, not considering some ethical and religious views. this can cut out a huge amount of the audience as it could reduce due to unwanted scenery.

A good example of a supernatural thriller with a wide ranged audience

is Paranormal Activity

The category that matched our thriller opening was Crime/Action thriller.

Our thriller opening, 'Bloodline' suited best in this particular category due to the images and ideas given through Mis-en-scene, sound, camera work and editing to the audience. At the very start of our thriller opening, we hear a plot to murder another person, instantly giving the crime/action feeling. However, at the very end of the opening, the murder plot is turned around when the killer is killed by the victim. This automatically draws in a sense of action and crime, knowing that it will lead to a series of Crime/Action event throughout the rest of the movie. A fixed audience is gathered through this basic information, as it implies that the target audience is between teenagers (16+) to adults (30-40). Crime is a type of sub-genre that has precautions as to exactly the message that would be given of to the audience, which means that the audience would not be younger than 16, or any age that can be influenced negatively through this type of media entertainment. Feedback during the process and after the process of filming were 90% male. The title and story line engaged a wider male audience rather than a female audience, which was the expected turn out.

The FaceBook page was successful in retrieving followers.
 Pictures and videos were uploaded for positive and negative feedback