From my research into short films, I have found out that having the right target audience to suite your production is essential. For my short film production my target audience is focused mainly on people aged 16-20 years. I personally think that short films appeal to both male and female audiences; this is because short films are sophisticated, innovative, and the length isn’t as long as Hollywood blockbuster films.
In order for communication to take place there must be at least two parties; the sender of the communication and the receiver of the communication. The audience is the receiver of the text, as they interpret the message conveyed. Whether a text is being constructed or being analysed, the destination of the text will need to be put into consideration, for example: the target audience and how that audience or any other audience will respond to that text.
'Audience' is a very significant concept all through media studies. All media texts are made with an audience in mind. An audience is group of people who will receive the text and make some sort of sense out of it. Sometimes, but not all the time, the producers make some money out of that audience. It is also important to understand what happens when an audience "meets" a media text.
The following are all factors in analyzing or predicting this reaction:
Ø Audience Engagement: - This describes how an audience interacts with a media text. Different people react differently to the same text.
Ø Audience Expectations: - This is the sophisticated idea an audience might have about a text. This particularly applies to genres. Sometimes producers intentionally ruin the audience’s expectations, to give them a thrill of excitement.
Ø Audience Foreknowledge: - rather than the vague expectations, this is the exact information which an audience brings to a media product.
Ø Audience Identification: - This is the way in which audiences feel themselves connect to a particular media text, in that they feel the media text directly expresses their lifestyle and attitude.
Ø Audience Placement: - This is the range of strategies media producers use to directly target a particular audience and make them feel that the media text is especially for them.
Ø Audience Research: - Measuring an audience is very important to all media institutions. Research is done at all stages of production of a media text/product and once produced, audience will be continually monitored.
When a media text is being planned, the most important question the producers have to consider is "Does it have an audience?" If the answer to this is 'no', then there is no point in them going any further with the media text that is being planned, if no one is going to watch/read/play/buy the text, the producers aren't going to make any money or get their message across.
Audience research is a key part of any media company's work. They use questionnaires, focus groups, and comparisons to existing media texts, and spend a great deal of time and money finding out if there is anyone out there who might be interested in the idea they have. Knowing who your target audience is and what they want is the key to a successful text.
Audience Research is an important way to study the characteristics of target audience for any chosen media text.
