Target Audience Research

As I am making a film within the social realism genre, I wanted to research some already well established British films within the same genre. I have already studied their posters, trailers and have additionally watched the films to get a grasp of what exactly the aim of this type of film is and how I can create my own trailer within this genre effectively.  Fish Tank, Shank, This is England and Kidulthood are the main four British social realism films I have been researching and this is because although they may differ in the nature that they cover within the social realism sector, they do however, make them very realistic to the point where most of or almost all of the targeted audience can identify with most of or even every single part of the film.

By further researching these films, I tried to figure out which the targeted audience for each one was. Although some of them may differ for the age of their targeted audience and this is because of the age certificate given to the films, as some of them have different amount of nudity, harsh language etc included throughout the film. They all however have one thing in common, all of the targeted audience are British, as these scenarios included in the films can be applied to numerous parts of the UK. 

Kidulthood, Shank and Fish Tank have certificates confirmed by the BBFC of the age 15, however Kidulthood and Shank do have a lot more violence and sex/nudity scenes included throughout in comparison to Fish Tank. The main target audience of Fish Tank are therefore, mainly teenagers between the ages of 15-19 both female and male. Kidulthood and Shank, however, are both targeted for males aged 16-19, although this doesn't mean that the film hasn't attracted British female viewers. This is England is the only film out of the four which has a certificate rating of the age 18 and this is because although the director intended the targeted audience to be the same as the other three films, once it was released the certificate was moved to 18 due to the language, nudity and other adult features included. This meant that the targeted audience couldn't watch it at the cinema, however, it just meant that it the targeted a broader audience and did equally as well. The targeted audience for This is England is males and females aged 16-24. However, older males of that generation or the previous one may like to watch it because they can relate and remember what it was actually like in the time where the film was set. 

Through this research, I have realised that I want my targeted audience to be mainly females aged 15-24, although the narrative of my film will also attract and allow male viewers to identify with the scenario. My film will include very few scenes of nudity (such as Athena giving birth etc), however this won't be included in my trailer because I won't be able to portray this realistically or effectively. However, I don't think it will have any harsh language as the nature of my film isn't one like those captured in the above films, however, it does apply to real life as a lot of people, especially couples go through this, so it therefore fits in the social realism genre.