Evaluation Task 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Here is a transcription of the interview conducted in response to "How did you attract/adress your audience?". It was created in order to summarise why we did what we did and why certain things were focused on more than others.

INTERVIEWER : So tell me, how did you attract or address your audience in your thriller?

INTERVIEWEE : Well, to be honest, when we did our research regarding what target audience our thriller would have, we never expected it to be women in an older age division (40+). Our target audience has an interest in intriguing thrillers that makes them question the sense behind it. Perhaps it is also the violence included within the thrillers that draws them in. We responded to this by not having a clear narrative in our opening sequence, and by using a twist ending that the entire thriller builds up to in the end.

INTERVIEWER : What type of genre is the opening sequence you have you created?

INTERVIEWEE : The opening sequence is a part of the horror-thriller hybrid genre. It is also a psychological thriller, and seems to be similar to films such as “Perfume”, “Red Dragon”, or “The Silence of the Lambs”.

INTERVIEWER : Where is your thriller set?

INTERVIEWEE : Our thriller isn't set in a specific location; we always thought it would be set in a hidden industrial building or a hidden basement, but for the audience it is more of a non-descriptive location. This means that the location is a minimal part of our thriller and puts no limit to the audiences' imagination as they have no preconceived locations in mind. Therefore this is left rather open-ended.

INTERVIEWER: How do you think this is going to attract your audience?

INTERVIEWEE: When we conducted our interview, our target audience had mentioned that they liked thrillers that gave them more to think about. This is exactly what our thriller achieves. By having an undisclosed location it enables the audience to ask questions. Next to this, the characters are emphasized; the entire focus is on the characters, and it doesn't actually matter where the scene is taking place. The characters are so developed that there is no need for an exact location.

INTERVIEWER: What exactly is your plot line?

INTERVIEWEE: Putting it simply, the killer is an artist who is creating a painting from the victim's blood.

INTERVIEWER: Why would this be attractive to your audience and what should they expect?

INTERVIEWEE: I think our opening sequence encourages questions. It's a rather 'abstract' opening sequence which is supposed to make people inquisitive about it. The audience can expect a more personal opening sequence as the thriller is based around the psychopathic killer and understanding him. It addresses the complexity and should intrigue the audience. It's a type of puzzle that should be solved by them.

INTERVIEWER: What kind of characters have you made and will the audience like them?

INTERVIEWEE: Well, as mentioned, our main character is a psychopathic killer. He is isolated, troubled by conflict, troubled by the extent of their mind, and he's most likely acting out of his control. I think the audience would be interested in our character because he's quite unpredictable, he's not relate-able and that's why I think people would want to find out more.

INTERVIEWER: Have you used any narrative devices within your thriller?

INTERVIEWEE: Yes, definitely. Like everyone else we attempted to include suspense, because that is one of the main conventions of a thriller. We also used a plot twist, in a way that we have the sudden reveal of the victim in the very end. We attempted to build up towards that point all the way through the thriller.

INTERVIEWER: How do you appeal to your audience?

INTERVIEWEE: I think we appeal to our audience in a way that we play mind games, which seems to be something that our target audience enjoys quite a lot. We also think that it may appeal to them in a strange way because... it may appeal to their darker side. Everyone has one.

INTERVIEWER: What kind of music have you used and why?

INTERVIEWEE: We used a distorted piece of classical music as our contrapuntal non-diagetic soundtrack. This makes the thriller more haunting and hopefully makes it more daunting.

INTERVIEWER: What kind of information did you give in your titles and why?

INTERVIEWEE: Well, we highlighted actors in our thriller opening sequence when we added in the title cards. We used and featured younger and more upcoming actors which will hopefully make them more popular in the future. It is a way of promoting them.

INTERVIEWER: What editing techniques did you use?

INTERVIEWEE: Well, when looking at our thriller it is pretty evident that the pace increases as the sequence goes along. As we get closer to revealing the victim, the pace of the clips becomes shorter and therefore the entire thing has a faster feel to it. We also used the title cards as a transition help when the clips didn't fit together properly.

INTERVIEWER: What conventions have you used?

INTERVIEWEE: When we did our thriller it was vital for us to build up tension and suspense. That was basically the main thing we were looking at when creating our thriller and wanted to make them as evident as possible.
INTERVIEWER: Thank you for that insightful information into your thriller. We look forward to seeing the final product.
INTERVIEWEE: My pleasure.