4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

To identify the audience for our thriller opening we looked on the BBFC website to determine what was allowed to be put into the thriller so that we could determine what age group it would be suitable for. We also looked at other thrillers to see who they had targeted as their audience:

• Shutter Island – 15
• Seven – 18
• Hannibal – 18

All films above include explicit gore and offensive language, that’s why they have such high age ratings. We also sent out a questionnaire with questions relating to different aspects of a thriller movie we asked what age they were to help determine what age group to aim our thriller at and we also asked what people look for in a thriller to help us determine what type of thriller our opening would be for e.g. action, mystery, religious etc. We found that the majority thought a thriller should be rated a 15, as it can be watched by larger amount of age groups without delving too much near children, as the topic may not be suitable for them. We also found what people expect and want to see in a thriller production;

This helped us a lot, as we then had an idea on what people want and also what makes a successful Thriller, according to the public/audience. Our typical audience member is in their late teens or a young adult, they also watch thriller films in cinemas with friends. We found that one of the most popular thrillers from our results was the hit thriller Taken. This was popular because it had hints of action, crime and mystery, these all help to make an entertaining thriller, according to the audience.

We decided to classify this film as suitable for 15 years or over, as it seemed to be the most suitable for the opening, in this type of film classification:

• Drug taking is allowed to be shown although it cannot in anyway promote drug.
• Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic.
• Dangerous behaviour shown should not dwell on detail.
• Nudity is allowed.
• Violence can be quite strong.