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Q5: How Did You Attract/address Your Audience?
Q5: How Did You Attract/address Your Audience?
Intertextual References
The first and most apparent intertextual reference made in our thriller production is the location itself which acts as an intertextual reference to the 1994 biopic Heavenly Creatures. Like Heavenly Creatures, our thriller is filmed in a vast, natural outdoor location, in our case, far away from civilisation. We chose to include this reference by filming In the location of Whitlingham Lake, located in Trowse, Norfolk as it appears secluded and emphasises the character of Billys separation from the rest of society; he is wrapped up in his own thoughts which contrasts with the intimidating space around him. This is reflective of the fate of Paulines mother in Heavenly Creatures as the large space which surrounds her disconnects her from the danger which awaits, thus, if the audience of our thriller notice this connection then they too, will be provided with a sense of shock and empathy for Billy as his fate approaches. The second intertextual reference included in our thriller production is much less obvious in comparison to the last one; certain aspects of the image of our antagonist Danielle is reflective of The Brides from Kill Bill. For example, the over-the-shoulder shot used at the beginning of our thriller indicates that Danielle is a blonde, much like The Bride, suggesting that Danielle may be seeking revenge. Another intertextual reference includes Danielles ringed fingers which act as a reference to Bills of Kill Bill from the opening scene in which Bill wipes blood from The Brides face. The use of this reference emphasis Danielles strength as a powerful and intimidating archetype, and also suggests her masculinity; Danielle challenges the stereotypical representation of females in thriller films as she is dominating as supposed to dominated and contains aspects to her image which can be linked to previous male antagonists such as Bill himself.
Cliff Hanger
The cliff hanger in our thriller production would encourage our potential audience to watch the rest of the film as it effectively increases fear and suspense. Throughout our thriller opening, a sense of tension and ambiguity is already heavily provided through the use of a daunting soundtrack and establishing shots of the location. Because there is such a limited eyesight for the audience when meeting the character of Danielle, with the pure focus made only on her hands, shoes and hair, the audience may feel gripped by this lack of familiarization and demand to see more of the film, making it possible to learn exactly who she is as a character. Also, there is no apparent reasoning in our thriller opening as to why Billy is being followed by the antagonist Danielle. The audience may be desperate to understand exactly what Billy has done wrong to deserve this victimization; Billy appears to be walking alone, minding his own business and causing no disruption at this point, yet we know that Danielle seeks pain on him for a reason that the audience are completely unacknowledged to, suggesting that an explanation would become apparent later in the film if the audience were to watch it. Also, our thriller opening does not specify whether the event taking place has happened in the form of a flashback, suggesting that the films plot would be based upon the relationship (or perhaps not) the characters of Billy and Danielle shared, or if the opening foreshadows a murder investigation to come, where all is explained to the audience on the death of Billy.
Audience Feedback
From looking at audience feedback, I have gained an understanding of the way people from our targeted demographic view our thriller production. Overall, females of the ages of 16 18 years old from Norwich have responded to our production very positively, with all four samples stating that it was very clear to understand, and was obvious that it was an opening to a thriller film. All four samples also stated that they would be interested in watching the rest of the film, indicating that our production was both gripping and suspense building. The audience feedback has also displayed that no participant found any offensive elements to our thriller production, meaning that we have presented character types clearly and confidently. One area of concern which appeared twice in my data collecting included the answers to Was there any part that you found confusing or hard to understand? in which two samples stated that the gender of the murderer was confusing, perhaps indicating that more focus on Danielle could have been made through specific camera angles and shot types, however, this can be viewed as positively as we purposely presented Danielle in a mysterious and limited way in order to attract audiences into viewing the rest of the film.