Audience Elements

Introduction:

Audience Elements.

These elements relate directly to the people watching the text and the context or place and time where the text is viewed. These elements are just as important as Story and Production elements as wthout an audience there is little point in creating a product.

Demographic.

Who are the people tha are going to see the text? In Unit 1 you will have studied Representation and studied the basics of demographics. This is a knowlege of the age, income, location and educatio levels of a particular audience. Most texts have an audience in mind when they are produced. It is unlikely that older people with high education levels would like to watch the 40 Year Old Virgin. Its the old joke You don't make a hiphop film for people who need a hip op! Generally Hollywood texts we see in Australia have a broad audience, but a recent text by Woody Allen may only appeal to a small older audience.

Expectation.

Usually when you go to see a text at th cinema you have some knowlege of what the text is about. This can come about through a range of things:

Advertising - this might include:

The trailer when seeing another text. These used to be quite targeted, that is a trailer for a text would be shown that would appeal to the audience currently sitting in the cinema. This seems to happen less so these days.

Television and radio advertising. This will usually include some of the visuals/soundtrack. This will give the prospective audience an idea of the genre as they will be able to see/here some of the action/dialog.

Posters. These maybe displayed in the cinema loby or on billboards. This fom is usually quite stylised, but will give some information such as the title, actors, director and studio. The illustration will often point to the genre.

Print advertising. Again as with the posters, this is often quite stylised, but will give some information such as the title, actors, director and studio. The illustration will often point to the genre.

Brochures and Flyers. These will have the same information as posters and print, but on the reverse side will have have more detailed information and may include reviews. These are generally only used for text that lean towards Art House.

Web sites. These will range from basic - poster information, to include the trailer, reviews, music, interactive entertainment, profiles on the key people etc.

DVDs. These are sometimes inserted in weekend newspapers and magazines. Generally they will include the more sophisiticated information that is listed under Web above. These were common in the UK prior to faster internet speeds.

Magazines. Magazines such as Empire are basically one big advertisment.

Newspaper reviews, blogs, etc. These are not strictly advertising but can be quite commercial in nature. Commercial media in particular will be worried that the film distributer will nolong wish to advertise with the publication if they constantly give unfavourable reviews. Over time you will learn the attitude of the reviewer and whether you generally agree or disagree with their reviews.

The Movie Show. Although the ABC is commercial free, it can be argued that the programme promotes a text. There was considerable debate as to the commercial nature of the programme when it began as At the Movies on SBS and this debate continued when the programme moved to the ABC. Nonetheless, it remains a reasonably impartial source of reviews. Again over time you will aline yourself with the views of Margaret and David.

Word of Mouth. This is possibly the most influential of all forms of advertising once a film has started showing. What your friends say about a text may mean the difference between going to see it or something else.

Experience and knowlege of:

Actors. You may go to see a text simply on the knowlege that a certain favorite actor will be appearing in the text.

Director. Similarly many people follow the careers of directors and people will see the work of a diector even if it is not in genre that they like. For example, many people have followed and seen all the films of Woody Allen. His films have changed dramtically and in style over the 40 years of his film making, and the quality has varied. Nonetheless, devoted fans will seek out even his smaller releases.

Genre. Even if we have no knowlege of the actors or director we may watch a text based on the knowlege of its genre. We may not know what Gattaca is about simply by its title. However, if we are told that it is a science fiction and we like text such as Blade Runner we may be more likely to wnat to view it. (This is more likely to occur in a Video Rental shop or a retail shop that categorises its stock.)

Production values. If we are told that a film looks good or has lots of CGI we might be more tempted to view it. Similar if the production values of a text are very bad, such as Attack of the Killer Tomatoes we might rent it for $2.00 and have laugh.

Reception Context.

In simple terms Reception Context is simply where a text is viewed. See here for a more detailed explaination.

Reason for viewing the text. Why is an audience viewing the text? This is a complex notion, in a cinema each person will be there for different reasons, to impress a friend, fill in time before going somewhere else, they like a certain actor and or director, it was the next film showing, the film they wanted to see was booked out, they have to watch it for Media!

Cost. Is the text being watched because it has the $2.00 weekly sticker, you are paying full price to see the latest blockbuster, or is it a free preview screening?