Audience Profile

Audience Profile

Target Audience?
The target audience for our film is for the age group of young adults of age about 20 which would be the main audience although would also suite a younger audience of mid teens. This is due to the type of horror it is. Due to the film being a paranormal horror the age group cant be too low because it would be unsuitable to younger viewers. The age group cant be to high either because horror is not a genre type of film for an older audience so the main target audience would be young adults.

Rating?

Considered certificate

12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult who is someone over the age of 18 who must watch the film with them. Films that aren't passed as a 12a are considered to be dark and upsetting to the audience so is pushed to a 15.

The reason behind our groups choice of rating is because the film doesn't contain explicit images or too much violence means it was difficult to prioritise a specific audience because it could be considered a 12a but other horror films are passed as 15. Due to this our overall choice was 15. It mainly contains small horror which may be frightening to the audience but is the aim of the film and not to horrific for a younger audience. The reason anyone younger than 12 can come with an adult is because there is small use of bad language which is only used on a small scene but may be unsuitable for younger than 12.
Also, our film can be considered as 12 a because their isn't much violence but there is use of weapons but not to the extent where it is unsuitable like things such as 'sexual violence' which is only seen in films of 18 .Dangerous behaviour (for example hanging, suicide and self-harming) may be present in 12 or 12A works but will not dwell on detail which could be copied or present those activities as pain or harm free. So will only show small scenes which contain this so that audiences cant pick up on this bad behaviour. Their isn't much use of this in our film but their is scenes of harm to people so can therefore be passed as a 12 rating.

Our chosen Certificate

However, most horror films are given a 15 certificate although they can be considered as 12a because of the psychological horror or upsetting nature of the film

 15 certificates work  stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language
• sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• drug taking

The age certificate of 15 means there aren't as many restrictions within the film and you are allowed more violent scenes which work well to make a good horror film so because of this we chose 15 to make our horror film suitable for its target audience.
 Due to the gore and violence of the deaths in horror films means that the film cant be passed as 12a and are pushed to 15. So our overall choice is because of the death and  blood in some scenes may be unsuitable for younger audiences. An example of other horror films similar to ours would be paranormal activity, insidious, the conjurance and Devil which are all certified as 15 which helped us decide our age because of the depth of research we did into the genre.

Mise-En-Scene

Locations
Typical locations used in horror films contain either a cabin in the middle of no where so that there is no chance of people escaping. Also it involves a deserted place or road where no signs of life to make the film more intense. In some paranormal horror films, the setting usually involves either a very old house or a large house to give a big setting to create more havoc in the house.

 

 

Costume

Costume in paranormal horror can vary depending on what is haunted. In some cases there is usually a demonic figure so this character would be dressed in red to show evil. Also, their is also the priest which is in every paranormal horror film will be dressed usually in a black cloak with a bible and cross as a sign of religion to prevent this paranormal being from hurting him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make-up

The make up used in paranormal horror is varied because make-up is used to show health because if someone is drip white because of make up this suggests that this person is unwell or possessed.

 

Props

Many props are used in paranormal horror to add intensity to the film with things such as;

-bibles

-crucifix

-blood

-holy water

-weapons

-cameras

-paranormal contacting objects such as boards,dices, lights, antiques

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lighting and Colour Designs

 

The lighting is usually quite dark to add a sinister effect or even the use of blue filters to give a cold feeling to suggest paranormal activity is near. Also there is the use of blacks,reds and greys to show evil and darkness to intensify the horror within the film.

 

 

 

 

Generic Conventions Of Horror

Generic conventions of horror from arronbettley

Characters

Character

1) The Black Guy
This character is usually the first character to die in horror films due to it becoming more stereotypical in horror films. This character is usually very muscular and outgoing, the character to take the first steps in horror films for example the first character 'to go through the door'.



2)The Non believer
This character is also likely to die in horror films and usually first if there is no black guy in the film. This is to suggest something bad is about to happen because everyone believes after the non believer dies. This character usually says the lines like "there's no such thing"to hide the fact they secretly believe.The non believer is a big character in horror films because this character stirs things up and in some cases make things worse.

3)The Blonde
This character is usually the 'slutty' character in horror films and in the most intimate scenes of horror films. This character creates the most tension escaping being killed many times until finally she dies. This character is the stereotypical blonde who is dumb and does all the wrong things in how not to survive.

4)The Athlete
The athlete is usually the 'hard guy' of the characters which people look to for help and defence. Usually quite muscular and people look at this character for reassurance. As well as this, this character puts up the best fight in the film but somehow in the end dies showing uncertainty and more is about to happen. This character creates shock to the audience of the film for it is unlikely he would die.

 

5)The Virgin
The virgin is the character which usually survives the demon or paranormal being due to her being a virgin which suggests purity and the demonic possession doesn't take her. As well as this, this is the most emotional character having to withstand everything that occurs. If not the only character to survive, the virgin usually survives with another male showing irony because they usually kiss near the end of the film.

6) The Stoner
This character is there to add humour to the film and is the defiant character who jokes about everything that happens. This character adds shock to some horror films because in some cases the stoner survives. This character usually dies early on when engaging in the drugs they take which causes them to loose awareness and dies due to clumsiness.

Iconography

Iconography of Paranormal Horror 
Paranormal horror films such as paranormal activity have iconography such as ghostly symbols, dark places, and unusual things happening such as doors slamming and swinging lights and haunted houses. Other Iconography in paranormal horror is blue filters, these are associated with these types of films because it gives the feel that its cold and the presence of a paranormal being.



Iconography is very similar to the generic conventions of horror because it talks about props and the use of location so other generic conventions of films are the use of location. Locations tend to be deserted where there is slight chance of escaping, dark paths, endless roads to make the film more interesting with the constant on the edge parts of the film because you want to see what happens to the character.

Another convention of paranormal horror is trying to frighten the audience with the jumpy scenes or things popping up in mirrors. Another way in which they do this is with the use of lighting for example if there is candles and it starts to flicker this gives the audience hints something is about to happen or appear.ther typical conventions of supernatural horror us the use of wind, creepy shadows, unexplainable noises and moving objects.

Normally in paranormal horror there is usually someone who comes in to test this paranormal being for example the use of cameras and crucifixes are used in films to make it angry to reveal itself which is used in most paranormal horror to reveal what is exactly haunting them.

More conventions are the use of sound mainly non-diagetic sound. Usually loud fast pace music to build tension or piano or organs to add a spooky feel to the film. Sound is sometimes synced with heartbeats to show anxiety with in the film.




Conventions like characters are used in paranormal horror for example there is always the character that doesn't believe which is used to increase the amount of horror for the audience because more things will happen to that character and is usually the character which dies. Also, there is usually a priest brought in to try prevent things happening which there normally is in most supernatural horror films. The use of props like crucifixes are used to stir things in the film to make more things happen and to make the audience jump more.

Film Research

Horror- Genre film

       Sub-Genre: Paranormal

                      

     Mama- a ghostly presence moves into a house after 2 young girls are found alone in a decrepit cabin where they've been surviving for 5 years, and causes a serious of frightening occurrences that reveal that the girls are connected to a ghost that hold a motherly relationship with them.    

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2023587/

 

Paranormal Activity- After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179904/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

 

 Insidious- a family do all that they can to prevent their comatose son from being trapped in a paranormal realm whilst evil spirits try to posses his body.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591095/

       

Similar Film Research

The Conjuring

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorised by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

Click to go to the website for The Conjuring

Carrie

A young, abused and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis, and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank.

Click to watch the trailer for Carrie

Cabin in the Woods

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

Click to go to the official website for Cabin in the Woods

Similar Story Lines

Devil

A group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them. The main setting of this film is a claustrophobic place e.g the elevator which gets trapped with people inside and a paranormal being (devil) starts causing havoc within the group in the elevator when it starts injuring and taking peoples lives.

There are many ways in which this films story line is similar to our film idea for example it uses a claustrophobic setting of the elevator which gets trapped which is the same setting as our idea. Also the use of dark lighting in the elevator and the flickering is the same in the elevator. Also the story uses a paranormal being which is the same character (villain) as our initial film idea. This story line has one character out of the group is survives which is also used in many other horror films where only a small amount of people who survive or even no-one. Usually in most horror films, there are always a male and a female as the main characters and its usually the main character who survives. The paranormal beings are never usually seen in the film but a glimpse of a flash a scary face or flickering of lights are what present the character.

Trailer of Similar film