Target audience for horrors and short films

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TARGET AUDIENCE OF HORRORS:
In the storyboard above I explain the target audience for mainstream horror films (whether it be a short horror film or the full legnth movie), to get a better view of the storyboard just click on the actual storyboard in which it will direct you to a link of an enlarged version. However below is a basic transcript of what is said in each text box from the storyboard:

The target audience for horror films tend to be people within the age bracket of 15 - 30 - young people. This is because young people tend to enjoy thrills that horror films provide, horror films can basically excite a younger audience easier than an older or younger one. These thrills are more likely to excite a younger audience rather than an older one. Many young audiences are not put off by graphic images also, but are actually drawn towards them. For example, The Human Centipede (2009) is well known and viewed specifically because of the graphic images and themes it contains. However, many older audiences will be put off by the use of such graphic violence.

To add on to that, young people tend to be less susceptible and more tolerable of the disturbing or unnatural images that come with horror films, in comparison to an older audience being easily put off and offended (some could say this is because they are 'old fashioned').

Although horrors have no gender specific target audience, they do tend to be aimed more at males due to the fact that stereo typically, males are more excited by violence and gore in comparison to females. Horror films tend to be watched as a social event, whether it be a group sleepover or a couple on a date, which also justifies the age target range as people of an older age range generally entertain themselves in other ways. To add on to that, there is no specific class range for horrors, however it does tend to be working class for the same reason above. Horrors are clearly not aimed for a younger audience due to the graphic and clearly inappropriate context included. 

TARGET AUDIENCE OF SHORT FILMS: 
Short films actually have a niche audience. This is because when looking at where short films are stereo typically shown and distributed at, it tends to be at festivals dedicated to film (sometimes specifically short films) or put onto social media sites such as YouTube. This is because the producer of a short film - in most cases - is an upcoming film director/creative/student trying to get into the film industry and/or has a passion for film, or it is a person who is already experienced and a professional within the industry simply producing more content, this being very different to a mainstream, full legnth film which would have an evident wider audience and be shown at national, major cinemas. Therefore, the short film industry’s audience is quite specific compared to that of the mainstream audience of larger full length films. This giving an overall target audience being similar people to the producer, so upcoming film directors, students interested in film or experienced people within the film industry. For example, the industry professionals and investors may be look at short films to find potential in a director, producer or writer to work for them for the particular company. They would be viewing the films for inspiration for their own work as an amateur film maker.

As most short films would be distributed and shown at film festivals or on social media, this signifies that most of the audience would also be particularly young as festivals tend to be an event more aimed at young people and also because a younger audience would be more familiar with the use of internet, linking to the fact a lot of the short films are shown on YouTube.

Despite this, As short films are not an actually genre but a type of media product, they are technically aimed at everyone until they are categorized into a specific genre, as they can be cartoon short films clearly aimed at children and a sexual based R18 short film. Despite this, the likelihood of a short film being aimed at a younger audience of children is unlikely due to the fact that short films tend to appeal to a niche audience as to know what a short film is, most likely you are person who is already interested in film. So a person who is already in the film industry or is trying to get into the film industry is most likely going to watch short films.

The age, gender and class could also depend purely on the type of film you would be watching afterwards.