Target Audience Research and Findings

Before we even started to plan our film opening in any detail, we had to decide on a target audience. As we decided to make a horror film, it was almost impossible to have the age rating as under 15 because horror films are almost always scarier and more intense than any other genre. As well as this, we looked at our sub-genre, slasher and took inspiration from their age rating certificates.

Some of the most popular slasher films and their age certificates:

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 - 18

• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 - 18

• You're Next - 18

• I Spit On Your Grave - 18

• Halloween - 18

• Friday the 13th - 18

Clearly, a common age minimum is set at 18. This means the  target audience would range from 18-25, young adults/teens to mid twenties, as this is what seems most appropriate for our film genre. 

The age certificate which we have placed on this film is a 15. This is mainly because of the high level of violence in the film where there are strong brutal images in which we feel that it is not suitable for people who are below the age of 15. Also because the brutal images are not shown  for long periods of time we felt placing an 18 certificate on the film was not necessary. Furthermore, there is no sexual violence or upsetting themes of that type.

"The 18 certificate was created in 1982 as the successor of the previous X certificate, which in turn was the successor of the H certificate (with H standing for "horror"). Typical reasons for restricting films to the 18 certificate category have included scenes of hard drug use, supernatural horror, explicit sex, sadistic violence and sexual violence — the last two of which have in the past led to a certificate not being issued at all, effectively banning the film in the UK. It was only recently that the censors passed films with explicit ('hardcore') sexual acts despite the 18 certificate existing for many years."

So what kind of content can we show and what can we do to attract the target audience? 

• If our age group is the maximum age limit, we are technically allowed to have gore, violence, sex, drug use, frightening scenes etc. However, this would not be appropriate for our film as it doesn't suit the narrative. As a 15 rating, there would still be some gore, but not shown for long periods of time. Furthermore, there would be no strong sexual scenes/violence. 

• We will have no foul language in our teaser (as it has to be appropriate for everyone) but in the film, swearing could be used mildly. 

• In our whole film, gore and violence would be acceptable, as this is clearly a common convention for our genre

• For our film trailer, we would keep the gore and violence to a minimum, to keep the most intense scenes secret and to tempt the audience into coming to watch the whole thing.