"How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?"
After having a discussion with my team, we, first, decided on the primary target audience for our opening title sequence. "A Void" is a psychological thriller with the main character being a teenage girl, which is why it would make sense for us to target young adults (15-25), particularly females, who have acquired higher education (the plot is going to be complicated and, thus, only a limited part of the population will be able to figure it out easily). Moreover, the perspective we present the content through, the morals we promote and stereotypes we reinforce (or challenge in some parts) led us to narrow our target audience down to female adolescents and young adults in the Western countries (the idea/plot is unlikely to be familiar to the population of Eastern countries). This decision we made is quite similar to the ideas we had during the pre-production stage: this is a link to the presentation I made, researching audiences and institutions: Research into Institutions and Audiences presentation.
Looking and analysing our product, certain scenes of our film are designed to engage our target audience.
In one of the first shots of the sequence, Julia is captured in a static mid-shot, as she wakes up and checks her phone. For the youth population this might be considered a common ground: the majority of teenagers nowadays are so inseparable with their devices, that it has become a habit to check one's phone before even getting up. This way the main character appears as a normal adolescent and seems to be trustworthy for he viewers from the very start.
Julia also looks in the mirror twice throughout the sequence (one of such close-ups is attached to the right) with the takes being relatively long when she does so. Our target audience receives a hint on such themes like self-confidence, self-love and mental health in general: females in the age range 15-25 quite frequently struggle with self image nowadays (with social media being one of the reasons for that). Hence, the audience might relate to these subtle contexts hidden in the senes of this sort.
Moreover, the viewers' attention is drawn to the box Julia takes out from underneath the sofa. In the over-the-shoulder close-up the female audience we have targeted can see jewellery, nail polish, hair clips etc. which are practically objects this particular gender potentially identifies most with. This sets a comforting and safe atmosphere, which appeals to the viewers. The fact that Julia took the box from a "hidden spot" introduces the theme of secrecy: the teenage viewers possibly relate to the idea of having a strong sense of privacy, which will engage them with the action.
Research has shown that there is a growing trend of females watching horrors and thrillers nowadays (BlumHouse films analysis), which is why we would expect the flashback scene to be the most captivating part of the sequence for the viewers. The low key cold lighting, the general urgency of the situation (created using sound and shaky camera movement) might be associated with the Nordic Noir, which is a genre rapidly gaining its popularity nowadays. This scene brings horror into the story that initially seemed to be calm, with this contrast creating a dissonance in the audience and attracting them to the action to an even greater extent.
Furthermore, the theme of mother-daughter bond is being developed in our sequence with this over-the-shoulder shot in particular implying the lack of that connection (the mother is distant from Julia even though she is extremely distressed). Unfortunately, this type of situation is quite common within the youth population as this gap between the generations is frequently sharply felt. Thus, the target audience might relate to this situation and the nature of Julia-Aveline relationships, which will bring them closer to the main character and encourage them to watch the movie till the end.
The viewers undoubtedly enjoy cliffhangers, as they create this intrigue, making them watch the whole product to figure out the plot. In "A Void" the closing ECU on the eyes, followed by the title of the movie, implies that this part of the story is significant, however it won't be explained instantly. This can be associated with the enigma code by Barthes: the audience will engage with the narrative due to curiosity and desire to "solve all the puzzles". The fact that Julia is presented through a ECU at the end of the sequence also suggests intimacy, which might ingratiate herself with the audience.
In conclusion, I would say that I am generally happy with the way we engaged our audience, however there were part thats we could have done better. I think, everything starting from the jewellery box and till the end kept the viewers' attention successfully, but the beginning part (morning routine) appeared to be relatively boring and slow. I can't say that I would rather we put more action from the very beginning, however it would be a good idea to add a soundtrack to our sequence in order to keep the audience engaged from the very first second.
As for any sophisticated movie, it is necessary to create a poster. This is the poster I have designed for "A Void":
When creating this poster, I was aiming to set the genre of the movie and emphasise the main themes and ideas the audience should be expecting to see when watching the film:
1. Talking about the background, I decided to overlay the close-up on an eye with a picture of broken glass. This implies that the film is concerned with a story about a certain individual (the eye) as well as the broken glass, creating an illusion of a scar, highlights that traumatic and distressing events will be taking place.
2. The rope/thread which connects the title letters suggests the pun "avoid-a void", which already sets the genre of thriller. Moreover, it hints to such themes like bond and relationships (within the family) which will be developed in the film.
3. I placed the letter "O" on top of the pupil intentionally: it represents the inability of the main character to "see the full picture", she is kept in the dark about her childhood. The fact that the rope with the title overlay the open eye also imply this "blindfold".
4. The critics responses and the ratings attached help the audience set certain expectations of the movie (e.g. it should be "a provocative and tense psychological thriller")
Distribution is a significant stage in the film production, which is why I need to think about the studios that would potentially distribute my film. As I already mentioned, I previously created a presentation about Institutions and Audiences, where I evaluated 4 large-scale and 4 small-scale film companies to decide which one would be a fit for my movie's distribution. I considered Altitutde Films to be the most suitable for this purpose. This studio is a vertically integrated UK film production and distribution company, that collaborated with such platforms, like Amazon videos and celebrities, like Drake. They distributed such films, like "Silent Night", starring Keira Knightly, which had 4 wins and 1 nomination. Will Clarke founded Altitude Films in May 2012 and has been expanding his business rapidly since then. This is the link to their official website:
http://www.altitudefilment.com/
In terms of the long term goals, I would aim for "A Void" to be released in the local cinemas, distributing independent film studios' products (thus, limited, targeted release). Even though potentially the movie could be released in global cinemas, we realistically don't obtain the necessary resources and budgets for doing so. Before releasing the film in local cinemas, it is important to get known, which is why I would suggest to submit the film on various film festivals. Those include both UK and international festivals, like Raindance, UK Film Festival, Outfest LA. Possibly it would later allow the film to get recognition and be shown on "LongShot BBC Film Festival", which would undoubtedly attract UK distribution companies and cinemas that would be willing to showcase the film. As streaming platforms are rapidly gaining popularity in the modern world, I would consider collaborating with Amazon Prime and Netflix to stream the movie after the cinema release (it could be a temporary deal i.e. the movie will be streamed for a limited time). In the meantime, I would engage with the audiences through social media platforms: I could create an Instagram account for the film as well as contact Youtube bloggers who would be willing to promote the film on their channels (for a certain price).
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