Who would be the audience for your media

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Q.4

My Media Product

The media product I have produced is part of the social realism genre.Social realism is an important genre in cinema but is depicted as neiche and often has a more sophisticated audience due to it’s own nature of construction. Through Target Audience Research and being that my product is social realism, it revealed various potential audiences.

Theatrical

• The average cinema of today rarely shows anything other than mainstream products – cinema that would bring the biggest audience for the largest potential profit. After research I found that common multiplex cinemas, such as, Empire and Odeon, on an average week showed possibly 1 out of 12 social realism products. In Google’s cinema listing for that same week showed 0 out of 15 listed media products to be social realism.

• The standard customer for a multiplex cinema is generally a younger audience or those less educated in terms of media and social awareness.

Theatrical• Such a minute demand for the more

sophisticated social realism products has lead to specialised theatres pride themselves in delivering more artistic and refined products of media to the further educated, more intellectually sophisticated audiences.

• Such theatres include Anolfini (an international arts centre and gallery), Corner House (centre for contemporary visual arts and independent film).

• We know this as the theatres themselves state that they are dedicated to the arts, and for somebody to appreciate arts full potential they therefore study it in further education.

Online• Viewing media products online has become

extremely easy and simple due to recent advancements in technologies.

• Streaming companies, such as, LoveFilm, Netflix and even catch-up programs including BBC and itv iplayers, advertise themselves in all forms of media, ranging from tv, radio, internet..

• This form of distribution is most likely popular for teenagers or those with a busy work life as it is quick, easy and you don’t have to move very far. Being this type of audience, they may not appreciate the art of a social realism if they happen to stumble upon one.

• Through research however, I deduced that although LoveFilm and Netflix advertise themselves as a mainstream distributor, it still features social realism films like Kes and Fish Tank.

Television• Television plays an important role in the

distribution and exhibition of any media product and therefore affects the audience.

• BBC 2 is an ‘alternative entertainment and informative channel’. The audience this channel aims for is that of the older generation who are more interested in expanding their own intellect and cultivating different views from the world. It dedicated a week of films to the genre of social realism during a seven week period. However, the other weeks were more mainstream movies, suggesting that the channel is attempting to gather a range of audiences.

Television• BBC4’s brands itself as “Intelligent, mixed-genre content for

the 21st Century.” featuring "a wide variety of programmes including drama, documentaries, music, international film, original programmes, comedy and current affairs ... an alternative to programmes on the mainstream TV channels.”

• BBC4 is required by its licence to broadcast at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110 hours of new factual programmes and to premiere 20 international films each year.

• Being that its target audience is the more sophisticated and educated on media terminology who appreciate the arts BBC4 would be an ideal audience for my media product.

Television

• Film4 is owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation that screens films.

• It did not originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters, but nowadays broadcasts many mainstream Hollywood films. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor are shown.

• As Channel 4 also owns a film production company, Film4 Productions, it shows many of its in-house productions. It is these in-house production that may be independent with a neiche target audience.

Television• Overall, Film4 wouldn’t be particularly suitable for my product

anymore since they’ve expanded their audience to the mainstream that may not appreciate the artistic values and enjoy the social realism genre.

• On the other hand, if one of Film4’s genre week was dedicated to social realism, that’s where my product may be best displayed as the audience would understand it’s context much better than a mainstream audience.

Radio• Social realism is a frequent genre on many of the BBC radio

stations. • They understand that it is a ‘kitchen sink’ genre, therefore

it’s audience are educated in more sophisticated media content and would then be an ideal audience for my own product.

• BBC Radio 3 Night Waves dedicates its voice to the arts, culture and media, where they are also interested in discussing world topics too – a common interest with social realism products.

Radio• BBC Radio 4 is a radio that plays no music but is dedicated to

film interviews, discussions and podcasts.• The programmes featured on BBC Radio 4 are consistently

intellectual so before you decide to listen to it it’s wise to know their style of language and the specific terminology used beforehand as it’s unlikely that the station would slow itself to explain.

• This being said, the audience this radio attracts is the more culturally developed with a willingness to discuss the construction and meaning of films. Social realism is a genre dedicated to meaning and interpretation.

Print• Film magazines, such as Empire or Total Film, mostly

advertise mainstream films and are available for pickup in the mainstream cinemas or in supermarkets, perhaps even corner shops. The fact that these magazines are available to anybody means anybody can disrespect this print.

• However, the more sophisticated and often criticised as being harsh and “snobbish” magazine ‘Sight & Sound’ is available through subscription, meaning that it’s audience is dedicated to film. The syntax and register that is used in this magazine is only understandable to that of an educated audience. Therefore, ‘Sight & Sound’ is a much more appropriate audience since their audience is likely to understand my product far better than the other prints.

Target Audience Research• After completing my audience research I found that those

who were interested in film were the younger generation. However, they were also the most likely to have heard of the term ‘social realism’ and those that understood it were people who attended further education, so their register, syntax and lexis were more developed.

• In conclusion, my target audience are likely people who have attended further education.