Thriller Task- Audience Research

Films as a whole can not be aimed at every audience it is almost impossible, this is the same for the genres. The genre that people like to watch also differs as everyone is varies in terms of interests. As a film that appeals to a child may not appeal to a adult.

When researching the audiences which are targeted by thriller films. I found a chart that explains the audience breakdown in thriller films in terms of the population.


Thriller Movie Age Profile


This diagram does not show the age group 0-13 years old, this maybe because thriller films maybe too scary or frightening for them to watch. It shows that most films are aimed at a young audience of 18-24 year olds at 23% this is lower than 50+ year olds at 26% this maybe because the general population of the older audience is 36% and the overall general younger audience population is 12%. (http://www.valmorgan.co.nz/nz/audiences/profiles/thrillers/)

An example is Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho (1960) in the 60's the films may have been aimed at 25-34 year olds as they are mature horror/thrillers. This is because the thrillers have a lot of suspense this maybe why an older audience would be interested rather than a younger audience who may just be interested in more of the excitement part of thrillers. Another reason would be because the actors are middle aged and the film would be more appealing to the older audience. But the audience nowadays who watch them would be 50+ year olds as these films are quite old, you can tell this by the quality (black and white) and the nature of the effects were pretty basic back then due to the lack of technology.





Another example is the film Scream (Wes Craven, 1997) this film would be aimed at either 14-17 or 25- 34 year olds as they are horror/comedy/thrillers. This is because this thriller has black comedy and is based on high school kids and a murder which many of the young audience would like and find appealing. Some issues that this film briefly passes, the young audience of 14-17 year olds can relate to in their own lives and the 25-34 year olds may be able to reflect on what high school was like. Another reason could be the actors like Drew Barrymore and David Arquette that are used as they are quite young who the audience may acknowledge from other films and therefore the film would appeal to them. The comic suspense and the dialogue may be another reason why this film appeals to this particular audience.