Evaluation: Question 5) How did you attract/adress your target audience?

Secondary research:

Secondary research was very important for my research and planning. Firstly, researching into other thriller films helped me have a better understanding of the generic conventions within the thriller. As a result I gathered a better understanding of who the target audience was for thrillers. For example they’re normally above the age of 17, both females and males; they love the feeling of their blood rushing whilst getting surprised. Moreover, the audience would generally be students/ young adults who enjoy horror and thriller genres.

In addition from my research I found out that the audience members love to experience their heart beating faster than usual. Also, they love getting surprised and staying alert by being on the edge of their seat at all times. To ensure that I provided my audience members with these emotions I added a lot of surprises into my thriller and intense scenes that will keep them alert, worried and on the edge of their seats.

After my research, I decided that my target audience for ‘’The Unknown Massacre’’ should be students and young adults (17+) as they can relate to the characters starring in the thriller with the same age group. For example our thriller consists of a group of media students who go out to film for their media production and therefore young adults and students can relate to this type of lifestyle. We also added a twisted plot to make them more attracted to what’s going on throughout the thriller.


Further details of my target audience are as follows;

Age: 17+
Gender: Both genders (Unisex)
Ethnicity: All as we have diverse cultures within our thriller
Occupation: Students, employed – E, D, C1, C2, B, A
Hobbies:  Thriller genre, socialising, going cinema and playing spots as it makes there heart beat faster which relates to thrillers.

The questionnaire was relevant because we got more information about who the target audience was and what their interests were.  This also allowed us to get quick feedback, and the information we wanted was specific. Also, the graphs created are easy to record and develop my feedback on. My results were beneficial to me because I got a better understanding of what my audiences expectations are of a thriller.

Some of the key questions I asked were;

1) What themes do your favourite thrillers involve?
2) What are your expectations from a thriller film?
3) What colours do you expect to see in a thriller?
4) Which types of characters do you expect from a thriller film? Please select two.




These four questions helped me with gather specific information for my thriller in order to make it up to my audience member’s standards and expectations in order to create a thriller they would enjoy. These key decisions had a huge impact on my thriller as we had a better sense of idea of what to include with things such as costume, themes etc.






Focus group:



To also make sure we followed conventions and appealed to our target audience, I created a focus group to showcase my production. Some of the feedback I received was;



‘’Oh wow, you guys made it seem really realistic!’’

‘’That was so good! Especially the end twist that proper had me puzzled until I figured it out’’