Readings - Audience & Text

When producing my short film I had to consider the readings that my audience will consider too.


When producing my short film I had to consider the readings that my audience will consider too.

Approaches to audience:
1.) How does the text work on the audience?

My short film will be in a natural setting. I will not be including animation in my film as I want it to come across as real as possible to the audience. I think that choosing a life like setting will be beneficial as the audience may be able to relate to my film, which is part of my aim. I would like my film to inspire people.

2.) How do audience use the text?

In the process of making my film I always had intentions that my audience would be active. I think that audience opinion and response to media texts is vital as this is the only way that media and (more specifically) film producers can reach out to consumers and understand things that people like or dislike, agree or disagree with. I would like my audience to be active because this way I can actually see whether people go with the flow or put forward any critical opinions - this is how we grow. Most importantly, I will be able to evaluate whether or not I was successful in making my text relate to the audience and making people understand the film that I produce

3.) In what ways are the audience involved in the production of the text?

In the production of my film I carried out surveys as a way of reaching out to audiences and seeing what their opinions are on:

- A title for my film
- Gender of characters
- Setting (natural or refined)

Title: Out of the following three options, 'Cultural Variations' is the title that people liked the most...
- Cultural Variations (winner)
- Stereotypes of Asians
- How to be Indie

In terms of gender, my survey results found that ...
- Female
- Male
- Both

'Female' characters would be most appropriate for my short film. This is because the genre of film that I am producing is likely to have greater impact on female audiences. However, my results may be biased because I asked members of my female dominated school. Having said this I did try to avoid making my results unfair by asking male members of the sixth form too.

In relation to the setting of my film, I found that a 'natural' setting would be most effective for making my film something that people can relate to. Even though I have a relatively young target audience I think that making my film animated will attract younger members of my audience exclusively.