Ittiphol Srirachanikorn (4089)
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I do not always know what I want, but I do know what I do not want
stanley kubrick
TARGET AUDIENCE
Research; To successfully produce a short film, I first need to understand my audience and who I am making it for. By looking into target audiences, I will able to apply this knowledge to sculpt the perfect film that will be most relatable to the target audience that I have chosen.
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Definition: A specific group of consumers which a company will aim its products and services.
LIFESTYLE
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The interests and passion of an audience
John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in the Class Sketch (1966)
L'CAGES
CLASS
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The social gap between people; low, middle, high
AGE
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The stages of life between each person
GENDER
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Male and Female physical/sexual differentiation
ETHNICITY
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The cultural or race commonalities that people share
SPENDING
POWER
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The wealth of a person providing disposable income on leisure products
DEMOGRAPHIC
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This refers to a specific characteristic of that target audience.
EXAM Q:
Apply the concept of LCAGES and describe the demographics of 2 different short films of your choice
After watching two shorts films: Portal: No Escape and Spellbound, I have carefully analyzed the features and details to the films in their relevance to the L'CAGES of potential audiences...
PORTAL: NO ESCAPE
LifeStyle
Prison metaphor, depressing composition; suggesting to low-class, not wealthy people that PORTAL can offer an escape. Demographics who prefer action/science fiction genres to play the game. Physically fit protagonist; attracting to demographics that this video game won’t make you lousy, lazy and fat.
Class
Aimed to attract those of middle class with enough money and knowledge to fantasize about a dimensional-based action game, however it may also attract those living in poor conditions like the actress- a lower class- that the game can elevate their mood and possibilities can be broken hence your background.
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Age
Adult female, to promote video games within adults other than teenagers.
Gender
Female is a protagonist - attracting more female video game players.
Spending Power
Likely for those with sufficient working income enough to spend on a video game for leisure.
SPELLBOUND
LifeStyle
Siblings in their youth who aren't serious into education yet; primary school, prep school...etc.
Gender
Females are the only human characters (as well as the soft texture of animation) which may attract young females to watch the film. However, a small demographic of young boys may also watch it as the monster may be an appealing feature to the film for them to watch it.
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Spending Power
Kids may not have enough money to survive on their own, so they may be likely to stay with their parents, who are much more capable to be able to afford comfortable living for the lives in the family.
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Age
Child to teenage girls; sisterhood.
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Class
Middle-class suburban family.
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Reflect; I've learnt that there are more to the word "target audience" than it seems, and that there are various choices for me as a film maker, to target specific audiences with their exact needs, niche lifestyles and their relatable experience to the intended film components.
Relate; With this in mind, I have applied the L'CAGES to my target audience for the short film.
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Mainstream v.s. Niche
AUDIENCES
Research; After realizing a brief idea of my target audience's needs using the L'CAGES model, I now have to decide on the quantity of that audience, and whether I need to specify aspects of the film to suit either a large mainstream, or a small niche audience.
Mainstream
Is to incorporate a wide range of people, something with popular appeal. The audience would be involved in the texts for entertainment or social integration, some may feel the need to watch mainstream media media texts because it makes them easier to be involved in conversations and conform to the society’s trend.
Niche
Refers to a specific, particularly small group of people. The media product would be unpopular. The audiences would tend to watch media texts that are interesting to them in particular. It may be difficult to access and have less coverage on media platforms. They are more likely to be individual in their own film tastes and preferences.
Example:
Avatar was a very popular film therefore it would appeal to a lot of people due to its serious/exciting-looking animation that may bond people’s interest from their lifestyles. Avatar was easily available and screened at lots of cinemas all over the world, it was rated PG 13 as well as being released during the holiday period, allowing people to use their disposable income. In addition the narrative is easily understood and accessible for all ages and genders which will not be biased to a specific class or lifestyle.
Example:
Memento would have a niche audience. It was released at the Sundance film festival, and not screened in cinemas and went straight to DVD which would limit the awareness of the film in society. Also, having screened at such a prestigious event, this would only allow those with higher class status which should have plenty of disposable income than the ordinary middle class, in order to watch this film. In addition it was rated R for violence, bad language and drug content.
The difference between Mainstream and Niche audiences is that the former only watches popular media texts which will be widely accessible, whereas the latter will watch upon their own personal taste in less popular films that may not be as accessible or covered in various media platforms as Mainstream texts.
CASE STUDY: Mainstream v.s. Niche Audiences
JURASSIC PARK (1993) is a film for MAINSTREAM audiences
Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Released May 30 2013 (Thailand)
Directed by Steven Speilberg
Actors are Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Neil
Genre of Science Fiction film/Fantasy
Production in United States
2h 7m Runtime
About dinosaurs breaking out of their cages and kill all prey on the island
Had the budget of $63 million to produce the film
Had the budget of $65 million to market the film
Earned $1.029 billion in Box Offices
WHIPLASH (2014) is a film for NICHE audiences
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Blumhouse Productions
Released October 23 2014 (Russia)
Directed by Damien Chazelle
Actors are J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller
Genre of Drama/Music
Production in United States
1h 47m Runtime
A jazz mentor goes beyond limits to carve his vision of a perfect drum student
Had the budget of $3.3 million to produce the film
Earned $49 million in Box Offices
EXAM Q:
Evaluate the two case studies you have researched.
Which one is the most effective at targeting their mainstream or niche audience?
Upon research of the two case studies, Jurassic Park (1993) and Whiplash (2014) can be firmly established as reliable examples of a very successful mainstream and specific niche film to its audiences.
With Jurassic Park using half of their production budget on marketing at $65 million, as well as being shown in cinemas worldwide, it is no doubt that they have successfully targeted the mass audience at the period of time. This may be due to an unconventional form of film- in its fantasy and sci-fi bond- which represented the picture of dinosaurs so realistically which had "once again make audiences believe (if only for a second) that dinosaurs can still rule the Earth - or at least the box office"(Screen Rant, Kendrick). The marketing of Jurassic Park truly took advantage of the plentiful budget into creating various posters, merchandise, souvenirs, being featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and especially media convergence of TV commercials. This would have covered all aspects of the mass target audience in society from the lowest to the highest class as the accessibility to the media text are available on all sorts of media platforms.
On the contrary, Whiplash had only $82,000 for marketing which is significantly less than Jurassic Park's budget. However, considering the time period of the film's release in 2014, they had carefully laid out marketing strategies which would play onto their strengths and cost less: social media. Aiming to target the niche audience of teenage musical (preferably jazz) students, the use of social media by Whiplash has been very clever in suiting the demographics' lifestyle in checking their social media at most popular times. This included a goal of 3 (paid to boost) posts a day on the Whiplash Facebook page at 9am, 1pm, and another at 7pm to ensure most traffic of the demographics. In addition, techniques of pull tactics (interactive polls on twitter for fans to take part in) and giveaways kept their interests. Moreover, synergy was used between popular drum kit instrument/gear production companies and the film to suit the lifestyle needs of the jazz/drum students in their passions for music, while also picking up some new musical audiences who may check out the film solely because of the convergence, which in turn will increase the happiness and size of the demographics for Whiplash.
In conclusion, both films were successful in attracting their target audience/demographic, with Jurassic Park's marketing approach covering all sorts of media platforms digitally and physically from its huge budget to ensure the mass audience's awareness. Arguably, with a much less budget and smaller audience, Whiplash has done very well in satisfying the needs of their demographics and played to their strengths using the world of digital marketing and social media in the present time.
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Reflect; Now that I have learnt that there are two main types of audiences: mainstream and niche, I can now decide between specifying my media product for a niche audience with a higher chance of their approval, but not popularity; mainstream audience with a guarantee for popularity and awareness of the film's existence, but the approval of a fan base may be very minimal or non-existence.
Relate; After a discussion with the dream team, I have decided with my colleagues to aim the media product (short film) at a mainstream audience, as I believe that the concept of society's control over others apply to everyone of all ages, races and backgrounds. Therefore it would seem unnecessary to narrow down such a big topic: Mainstream audience.
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MEDIA
CONVERGENCE
Media Convergence is made much easier by TECHNOLOGICAL CONVERGENCE.
Media convergence is how production companies use a variety of media platforms to display their product.
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The term defines to how technology allows media texts to be produced and distributed on multiple media devices!
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MOBILITY / SIZE / ACCESS / SPEED / EASE / DISTRIBUTION / INTERACTION
Jurassic Park (1993) used media convergence to promote its brand and film through merchandise, posters, newspaper articles, magazine features, comics, T.V. commercials.
EXAM Q:
Explain how media convergence is changing the way that audiences consume information and interact with each other?
Media convergence is the distribution of a promoting media product through various media platforms, in order to achieve awareness and thus popularity from the mainstream audiences.
This significant increase of accessibility through numerous media platforms provides mainstream consumers with the ability to intake the promotion of the media text faster and easier. With the rise of technology, target audiences are able to be fed with desired content from the media text by following, listening, reading, watching or subscribing online. For example, as a niche film, Whiplash (2014) had cleverly employed media convergence through technological convergence into their marketing campaign through facebook posts, content hints on Youtube, and twitter polls and giveaways, thus satisfying the needs of the demographics’ intake of balanced information and online interactions.
With this, digital notifications may inform them on giveaways from online quizzes which can make the demographics/target audience feel cared for and establish a personal preference to the film as they are able to interact with its content, fulfilling the lifestyle needs from L’CAGES. This not only boosts their interaction with the film, but may also increase the target audience’s desire for more film information and potentially recommending more similar audiences for the film.
Blumler and Katz (1974)
THE THEORY: EXPLAINED
Blumler and Katz (1974)
Their ‘Uses and Gratifications theory’ suggests that media users contribute and have an active role in the media.
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DIVERSION
escapism; the need to relax and escape from the real world
(Lord of the Rings series)
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
using the media to fulfil their personal relationships with friends, becoming part of a social group (social integration: people coming together, going into a society)
PERSONALITY IDENTITY
using media to find out more about yourselves (Buzzfeed Quizzes, Twitter polls)
SURVEILLANCE
using the media to find out what is going on (CNN, BBC)
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3 other audience uses and gratifications...
VISCERAL
a physical or emotional response
VICARIOUS
experiencing something through someone else
VOYEURISTIC
spying on other people
Research; Now at the point where I have truly understood the different types of audiences and their needs, it would beneficial for the coursework and my repetoire of film-making knowledge to understand how it all works: why films make us feel good. Thus, I can apply this to the media product that I will be spending 4 months on making and potentially carve a gratifying film that successfully fulfills the LCAGES but also gratifying needs of the audience.
we categorized various films into categories of sorts, both general and relating to Blumler and Katz's (1974) Uses and Gratification theory.
FIGHT CLUB Film opening (1999)
From the film opening of Fight Club, and applying Blumler and Katz’s ‘Uses and Gratification’ theory, the animation opening depicting the protagonist’s brain mainly focuses on the aspect of a vicarious point of view. This film may fall into the diversion factor of escapism due to the animation inside the brain which does not reflect real-life scenarios. With its fast paced non-diegetic music, the audience may feel a vicarious connection with intrigued and anticipating emotions for the film.
EXAM Q:
Compare and contrast the depiction of audience use and gratification theory in the short films of ‘Deep it’ and ‘Last man on Earth’
APPLICATION OF THEORY
Because of the main factors of black ethnicity, young age, mainly male gender, and low-class lifestyle, ‘Deep It’ reflects the demographics of young teenage black males from lower class background with territorial and relationship misconceptions. Applying Blumler and Katz’s ‘Uses and Gratification’ theory, the film mainly focuses on personal relationship and personal identity for the niche audiences, who may relate to the heavy content of the film through the visceral motion of the character’s gradual build-up of emotion to climax, by bringing their friends closer and deal with issues delicately to solve real-life tensions. In addition the protagonist’s narration through non-diegetic sound drives the pace of the film, which personalizes the issue by being vicarious and allowing non-relatable audiences to experience closely, while accentuating strong relatable visceral emotions that existing demographics can understand to. Using personal relationship gratification, they may also find out more about themselves and which role (protagonist, antagonist, victim, bystander) they played in the film to change in real life to either step in or calmly sort it out to prevent such tragedies. As well as this, surveillance aspects in ‘Deep It’ may raise such awareness of the real-life based issues demonstrated in the film which will allow the demographics or any other niche audiences to become aware and potentially prevent the situations. However, Divergence and the concept of escapism not as present in this film as the other.
On the other hand, ‘Last man on Earth’ may appeal to a target audience in the masses of society, as the film does not reflect as realistically in scenarios and settings as ‘Deep it’, with the gratification of Divergence much more present in the film of a dystopian and nearly non-human world. This lowers the barriers of content limitation to demographics as the film covers a broad subject through being vicarious of the last human, making the narrative more personal and meaningful. Moreover, the personal identity gratification is very ambiguous and latent in its undermining throughout the motive of the film physically and mentally, with the opportunity for the audience to reflect and self-explore the concept of being by only themselves in a world with nobody- which may offer their conclusions of how they were in a society (whether they were a responsible citizen or what not) and thus strengthen their personal relationships in society. On the other hand, surveillance gratification is not as apparent in the short film, but the establishing shots of the abandoned shop and quiet houses may bring in some awareness of the surroundings in the setting of the film (surveillance). Finally, the visceral motion may strike the target audiences towards the end of the film when the phone had rang after the poison intake- providing a cliff hanger and a range of new emotions.
APPLYING USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY TO SWING OF CHANGE (2011)
Reflect; Finally understanding the main drives to why and how audiences receive pleasure from watching various films and media texts, I can now apply this theory into my short-film to form the intended types of gratification and the three Vs for my target audience.
