Audience research:

Abraham Maslow came up with a theory that we all have different layers of needs, and we have to achieve certain needs before we go on to the next level. This is his hierarchy of needs;

This shows us how the upper levels are about self esteem, and it shows us how if you buy the new coat of the right brand on the advert you will feel better about yourself, and it will improve your self esteem, therefore this hierarchy of needs is very relevant to advertisers and institutions.




Different audiences:

Action Films: This genre of film usually have high impact on the audience, as they usually have continuous energy, and explosive scenes. In the film there is usually one main protagonist, and it is usually a man, and a woman in the film is usually a romantic interest to the main protagonist. The target audience for action films are usually from the age of 16-40, and I think the films are usually aimed at men more than women, as men enjoy action films more than women, and this is reflected in the characters and there roles in the film, as the man is usually the main protagonist, as the men can relate to him, and there is usually a woman in the film so the women in the audience can relate to her, but the woman is not usually the main protagonist, but this has changed over the years as our society as changed. As now women are seen as more independent, and less vulnerable there are now more women as the main protagonist in Action films, such as Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. Lara Croft is a famous actor star, and because of this character women are much more prominent in Action films, and there are now a lot more female heroines, and this therefore increases the range of the target audience, as there are more females watching Action films now, as there are more female Action stars.

Horror Films: This genre of film features jump scenes to scare the audience, and its aim is to instill fear or disgust into its audience. I have found that the target audience is usually young adults, from around the age of 18-25, but also older adults watch the films aswell. I have also found that a lot of horror films target teenagers, as they're usually the people who watch films, but horror films are also targeting teenage girls a lot, as they sometimes mix genres in horrors, they sometimes have some sort of relationship drama in it, which therefore attracts women, but also in many horror films the protagonist is a young girl, or several young girls, and this attracts the young girls to the film, as they can relate and put themselves in the characters shoes, this is seen in films such as 'When a stranger calls' and 'Sorority Row', as these films have female protagonists, but also horrors are aimed at young males, such as 'Silence of the lambs' and 'No country for old men', they are rated R and are probably aimed at young males. There are also and crime thrillers such as 'se7en', that target a more mature audience, but I have found during my research of horror films that the target audience for most horrors is young adults.

Comedy Films: This genre focuses on humour and entertaining the audience, and usually have a happy ending, except for the exception of Black comedy. Many stars who have starred in comedy films have become well respected and can be seen in serious genres of films as well as comedy. I believe that the target audience for comedy films are usually young adults from around the age of 15-30, as there is comedy films with younger adults such as 'Juno' and 'Superbad', and these attract the younger audiences, and then there are comedies for the older audiences, and these include couples and marriages such as 'Couples retreat' and 'Knocked up', these are aimed at older audience as they can relate to the story of the film whereas younger people can't as they haven't had the experiences the characters have had yet. The films are usually aimed at both men and women as there are usually two protagonists in the film, a male and a female. Comedies feature things that can be seen in our society such as problems in relationships, but they massively exaggerate it to create humour.

Family films: This genre of film is designed to attract families usually with children, the children are usually younger and therefore have stories and characters that attract them. The films usually have some sort of story that children will like and what will appeal to them, and there is also some wittier jokes and references to pop culture for the adults with their children. There are many family films made every year, and they have a studio designed to create them Walt Disney, which has created many films such as 'Toy story', which is one of the most famous family films. The characters are children's toys, which therefore appeals to the children as they may have the toys, and also it is a good way of selling products, as after 'Toy story' was released, they released toys which were in the film and as the film was so popular they sold out straight away, and this brought a lot of revenue to the film and the studio that produced and created it. Family films are usually aimed at young people and recently I have found that a lot of family films are animations such as 'Ice Age' and 'Monsters vs Aliens', these appeal to the children as they watch cartoons, and enjoy the fantasy world. The age family films aim at is from around the age of 5-11.

I have researched the audiences for these genre's of film, as I can incorporate this into my romcom trailer, as I believe understanding the audiences for these genre's will help me improve my final product, as I can use what I found out whilst researching these genre's and put it into my final product, and also it helps me to understand the different genre's and the different audiences for each genre's.