UPDATED Q5

How did you attract/ address your audience?

We decided on choosing the particular target audience of males and females aged between 14 and 20 years old. However, I feel our film would be aged 18+ if the actors playing the characters were professional actors of an older age, but because the actors in our film are aged 17, it is less likely to appeal to anyone older than 20 years old. This is because it would not be taken
seriously enough by people older than the actors as they would be viewed as too immature to take on the serious roles that are involved in our film. 

The narrative techniques that we have included involve the main character having a psychologically disturbing persona, this is shown from the opening scene to which the character played by Arthur walks into his bathroom where a dead girl is lying in the bath. Which he then proceeds to stroke her hair and place a ring on her finger. These subtle but effective actions that the character carries out help build the character profile of him being an enigma which helps engage the audience from the start. We also use a non-linear narrative to hook the audience in the attempt for them to want to know more, to intrigue them from the beginning. A limited use of di

alogue is shown
in the opening 2 minutes because we decided to use the camerawork, mise-en-scene and editing as a hook sintead of hooking the audience from the use of dialogue. I also think that having a limited range of dialogue doesn't give away too much to the audience about the plot, which is another technique in engaging the audience and hoping for them to question the plot and having the need to know more. 

The opening to our thriller entices the audience by involving a major cliff hanger, the last scene in the the 2 minutes shows the character played by Arthur receiving a phone call to which he responds to in a blunt, snappy and frightened way. He is then shown walking away, to which the audience is left without knowing where he is going or who he is going to see. The suspense and fear that is created form the ending shots is an attempt to foreshadow the dark events that are apparent to occur within the rest of the film.

Certain aspects of the mise-en-scene used within the film are used to enagage the audience, for example the common re-occurrence of the use of the prop of candles that are shown in several scenes. It could be viewed from an audience perspective that the candles are being used as a motif, although the candles were not apart of the initial script/plot. They definitely add a sense of mystery and eeriness through the lighting aspect that they create. However, they may also be viewed with a range of alternative connotations. For example, candles can be associated with death as well as juxtaposing the idea of candles being associated with romance and love. Candles are associated with death through the religious act of lighting a candle to dispel darkness and the flame is used to take the prayers of the living to heaven. By the leading character in the film having the candles lit (especially when surrounding the dead body) could suggest he is using them in the religious response to death. This also links to the use of another prop in the film, The Bible. However, candles are also associated with romance and a dark connotation that may also be associated with the film, is that the main character has romantic connections with the people he kills. Furthermore, this idea could be linked to the actions of the main character seductively strokes her hair and the way he gently caresses her hand when he places the ring on her finger. The ring may also be a symbol that he feels obliged to her and wants to romantically commit himself to her. These connotations involve dark and psychologically disturbing ideas that result in having an age limit on our film, therefore not suggesting the film is suitable to people younger than the age of 14.
Particular technical codes that we have used to engage the audience is through the use of camerawork. The camerawork in our film uses a range of close ups, which are particularly us
ed during intense moments within the scenes. For example, when the character played by Arthur strokes Annie's hair, it cuts from an establishing/mid shot to then a close up, which shows the use of match on action as well as engaging the audience. A close up does this through guiding the audience's eyes to the action on the screen, and the fact the actors are physically closer to the camera makes the audience feel more apart with what is happening on screen as they feel more involved within the situation because they are more connected to whats happening on screen.