Visualisation of the Target Audiences

Link to: the Visualisation of the Target Audiences.

Target Audiences

ESSENCE

Target Audiences

Being a sci-fi short film with themes of oppression and identity, Essence is similar to such properties as ‘Nineteen-Eighty-Four’, ‘Blade Runner’, and HBO’s ‘Westworld’. As a result of this, the primary audience for my short film will be males around the age of twenty-five. I know this from my research into George Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four (1984) novel as well as Westworld. Viewers of the HBO show are generally between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-nine, while fans of 1984 are usually between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. I feel that Essence will appeal to these audiences because of the similarities to the two aforementioned properties; the maturity of Westworld and its shared themes with my short film of oppression (of the clones in Essence, instead of the robots in Westworld), and similarly with 1984 my ‘Original Ben’ character parallels ‘Big Brother’ in George Orwell’s novel.

A secondary audience for my short film would be older males between the ages of forty and fifty-four, who enjoy Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. I think this audience would enjoy Essence as, like Blade Runner, my short film doesn’t rely on action, but is instead like a noir or a more dramatic piece. Like the replicant characters in Blade Runner, my clone characters in Essence strive to be seen as people, not things; and this is the journey of Essence’s protagonist ‘Ben #38’.

All audiences I have listed here are all left-wing in terms of political viewpoint. This means that Essence, being a story of the oppressed rising up against their oppressors (just like the other properties I have listed), will satisfy their Marxist-like views.

Furthermore, while these audiences are mainly around London, Essence appeals to people that are also from Wales and Avon, and Northern Scotland - because of this, my short film would do well being distributed all across the United Kingdom.

Production Schedule

ESSENCE

Production Schedule

September - October

Pre-production:

    - Research and planning.

    - Pitch.

    - Screenwriting.

    - Storyboard.

October - November

Production:

    - Initial filming.

    - Research into print work; poster / magazine.

    - Possible re-shoots.

November - December

Post-Production:

    - Editing.

    - Music composition.

    - Completion of print work.

Feedback from the Questionnaire

ESSENCE

Feedback from the Questionnaire

Q1: From the five options, action was the most popular genre, followed by thriller. As a result of this, I leaned more towards a thriller-type film instead of my initial idea to make it more of horror.

Q2: The most popular answer to this question was the first one, however I have chosen to go with the darker ending, as I believe it would be more entertaining to subvert audience expectations.

Q3: The results of this questions were quite 50/50, but I chose to go for a non-linear narrative, as I believe it would keep the film kinetic and fresh.

Q4: The majority agreed that a short film was, and so I continued with my idea of including quite heavy themes in Essence.

Q5: This question was quite 50/50, so I've decided that I probably shouldn't be too heavy handed by including a 'lesson' or any kind of message in the short, so not to alienate the audience.

Questionnaire

ESSENCE

Questionnaire

• Out of the following, what is your preferred genre?

• Action.
• Horror.
• Mystery.
• Sci-Fi.
• Thriller.

• What kind of ending would you rather see?

• A traditional, lighter, more hopeful ending.
• An unconventional, darker, more surprising ending.

• Which type of story-telling would you prefer to see?

• Linear.
• Non-linear.

• Do you think a short film is a suitable platform to explore potentially controversial themes? If not, why?

• Yes.
• No, because…

• Do you enjoy it when a film or other type of media delivers some kind of message and / or lesson to its audience?

• Yes.

• No.

Initial Pitch

Link to: the Initial Pitch.