Question 4

The target audience for ‘Desolation’ is a 16-25 year old demographic because this group is most likely to enjoy the raw, gritty look of the low budget film, they are also the most likely to be able to relate to the characters as Bridget and Annie are both 17 years old. The audience will also be predominantly female as both characters in the opening of ‘Desolation’ are female, this means the audience can again, relate to the characters. As we would be aiming to distribute our film through Warp productions we would have an English audience who are interested in alternative or niche films and who are interested in films such as ‘This is England 86’ rather than a mainstream audience who are interested in multiplex cinemas and films like ‘ Love actually’. The contemporary clothing of our characters shows that the film is set in the modern day and is very up to date, yet the plot is very versatile and the idea of abduction has been used many times before- each with a different twist. The 2008 film ‘Taken’ is a very good example of this, it is about a young girl who gets abducted on holiday and is sold into the sex trade; this is much more mainstream and high budget than ‘Desolation’ would be yet it is a very big influence. After researching the user reviews on IMDB I found that Taken was best liked by ‘males under 18’ and ‘under 18’- this is due to the predominantly male cast, whereas Desolation would appeal to a female audience as it is a predominantly female cast.

Our choice of location appeals to generic thriller conventions as it is isolated and secluded, this will appeal to the target audience as it is very realistic and easy to relate to. The idea of using a garage originated from ‘Essex Boys’ as the first scene is set in a grimy garage. The reality of the mise-en-scene is very engaging for the audience as it grasps hold of their worst fears and brings them to life; the thought of becoming imprisoned in a place so familiar to you (your best friend’s garage) is a nightmare scene as it ‘Desolation’ is about deceit, mistrust and torture which should be thought provoking and scarily realistic.