Deciding on the target audience

After doing the questionnaire and looking at the results, this then lead me to be able to decide on a certain target audience. I will try to make the film as diverse as possible to it can appeal to the widest target audience. My target age range will range from 16 - 30. This is because i feel that they will best be able to understand the narrative. I will target both male and female, as this is done in most social realist films, and i feel that the narrative will appeal to both genders. I felt that the themes that are going to be addressed in the opening will not be suitable for anyone under the age of 12. In relation to social status, i belive that it will appeal to all and also the same with social class.   

So overall i feel that the overall rating for the film should be a 15. This means that no one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. Also no one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video. I feel this is a suitable certificate because some of the themes like sexual abuse, and a mental disabilty, may be unsuitable for children under that age. Also this would give the film less limitations in the rest of the film.

Audience research results

After making the questionnaire, i handed it out to a wide range of people with different backgrounds.  The results showed :


- The age of the people that took part in the questionnaire were in the age group ranging from 16 - 19


- The majority of people watched films usually ranging between every week to every month


- Most of them preferred to watch films at the cinema, when i asked why they said because they enjoyed the experience, and found it a good social activity 


- When asked which genre they most preferred, the most popular seemed to be social realist, this was to be expected, considering the age range of the people doing the questionnaire 


- British film seemed to be more popular than other culture films


- Mental disability, was the most favored answer when asked what would be your favorite topic in a social realist film, when i asked why they said because it can be done in so many different ways it everyone that features it is not really the same. 

Looking at locations

Whilst doing the planning of the film i looked at many possible locations. These ranged from a house, hospital, a garden and a park. From going and looking at these i narrowed it down to two locations. Overall i chose to shoot it in a garden. I chose this because i thought that it would fit the narrative the best. Also because in the garden, as it was quite big, it enables me to get a wide variety of shots. In the location, there is a pond, grass, a little dirt track path, and other useable areas. 

When deciding on a locations i had to consider many different things. These were:

• Does it look realistic ? 
• Is it easy to travel to?
• Would i need permission?
• Would weather conditions affect filming?

Audience research

To find out more about my audience and who i should be targeting, i decided to do a survey to film about more about them and what they would prefer. 

I also did planning along with my audience research, this included brainstorming many ideas, in relation

  

Social realist genre conventions

For this part of the project i watched serval films from the social realist genre. These included, This is england, Kidadulthood, and Fish tank. In all of them i found some of the same conventions.  


- First of all many films in this genre have been shot using handheld cameras,  this is to give the films a documentary feel to the reinforce the realism. These often include long cuts and a lack of 'flashy' editing, in order to make the audience forget they are watching a film. 


- Next the use of unknown actors was also a common factor found throughout many films in this genre, such as This is england, Fish Tank and London to Brighton. The actors were used to reinforce the realism as they could be seen as just anybody in society, so that they hadn't been in any films before and had not created a stereotype for themselves wouldn't get in the way of their next characters representation.


- Also the use of sound if mostly diegetic as music is sparsely used and the real world sound is exaggerated. Music is still used, but mostly in very specific scenes, often to carry the emotion of a certain character to the audience.

Social realist films

There have been many successful films in the social realist genre, many of them winning awards. Beneath i have made a mood board showing some of the films that have inspired me to chose the social realist genre.

Social realist films normally have characters that would not generally be in big hollywood films. These films tend to be set around characters that are in their natural living environment and society. The narrative of a social realist film will generally be about characters and when unsettling things happen in their lives. This gives a chance for the less well know types of society a chance to be represented.  It has been argued that in general the representation of the working class has shifted from being what producers thought and saw of social realist situations  to what consumers reflected in a move that has seen members of the working class in more privatized domestic environments and leisure-time settings. 

When social realist films first began the main representation was focused on white working class males. Although there was some breakthrough in terms of race in films such as My Beautiful Launderette (1985) and Bahji on the Beach (1994). Now social realist films are not afraid to and have been  representing characters of all ages,races, and genders. This shows an acceptance that the british audience and are now more accepting of certain circumstances than they would of been in the past.

Social realist issues

There are many films in the social realist genre. Many have impacted the audiences lives. These films have inspired me to choose the social realist genre, for my film opening. There are many themes that can run throughout the genre and can also be crossed used. Below i have made a mood board listing these issues.