Character Analysis

The two main characters are Ross and Ella, Ross being the antagonist and Ella being the protagonist. The differences between Ross and Ella make them seem to both have extreme characteristics.
Ella is a young girl at the age of 15-16, she is represented as weak and vulnerable which is a typical stereotype for a young girl in a thriller/horror film. With the physical and verbal abuse from Ross towards her this makes her seem even more defenceless against him. Ella shows typical female traits for example in a few scenes of the trailer she is shown talking to one of her friends and this is a common female trait, to talk to someone about their problems. The audience is more likely to identify with Ella especially if the viewer is female. In the start of the trailer Ella has a flashback to Ross towering over her with him shouting at her. This is a clear example of their different characters. Ella is cowering on the floor while Ross is standing tall above her being the most dominant. We will also use high and low view point angles to show this clearly.

Ross is older than Ella at around 19-20 years old, in the relationship he had with Ella he was protective and had anxiety issues so when she broke up with him this made him furious and extremely dangerous. He is shown as violent and powerful which shows that he is taking a typical masculine role and because of this he is represented in a way that he is dangerous and scary.

Audience Analysis

In our planning presentation we had breifly described our targetted audience for the trailer shown right.

In both the Audience Profile and Anaylsis I will be describing the targetted audience in a lot more depth.

For our trailer and film the genre is thriller. People watch thriller and horror films for the adrenalin rush and the excitement of being scared, or example like on a scary rollercoaster when you want to get off when you’re on it but when it’s over you want to go on it again. So this is what we need for our trailer to be successful, to build up suspense and create the environment that would excite and hype up the audience for something terrifying to happen. Also with the film and trailer having a more realistic feel as the storyline is possible, this will make the audience wonder whether it could happen to them and possibly more scared. This will also make the audience more likely to find out what happens by watching the film itself.
The trailer will have to clearly show that it is a thriller with specific codes and conventions that are used in thriller films, for example a dark setting, with music being suspenseful and eerie. Looking at the research I did for the trailer “Taken” flashing cuts are used and the cuts are very quick this creates a fast paced, scary representation that the audience will understand what is shown and feel excited and scared in the right places. The trailer “Creep” uses heavy breathing at the start as this is a specific use of sound that is usually used in horror and thriller films to create suspense. All these specific details are what the audience expect to see in thriller/horror films and we should follow these in our trailer so the audience will be able to easily identify the genre.
The trailer would primarily be shown on television to get an overall audience interested, most likely in the evening or at night as this is when it will be more acceptable to broadcast. It may also be beneficial to make the trailer a viral advertisement on the internet using web 2.0 technologies such as Facebook or Myspace to target a specific audience that would find the film interesting and would go to see it.

Audience Profile

Overall the audience we are aiming for are young adults preferably female and in higher education. This is based mainly on the main character of the film because the audience will need to be able to relate to the character in order to understand the film itself.

Age
For the trailer we are aiming the audience to be in adolescence or young adults particularly 15+ as the film would be certified as a 15. The trailer however will be set as PG so it will be able to be shown on television. This trailer will target this age group because of the characters that are involved would be 15-20 years, so the audience will be able to identify with them and their experiences. Also with the film and trailer’s more adult issues that are being portrayed (stalking and violence) in the film and trailer it is more realistic this will target older viewers that enjoy realistic thriller/horror.

Gender
Generally the film and trailer is aimed more at female viewers. As there is a common ideology shown (domestic abuse towards the female character) this is what women would fear more so than men and may also have some experiences that would apply to the narrative. However because of its thriller nature this may also attract male viewers towards the film. With the film showing the representation of the male character being powerful and more dominant over the female, may interest the male viewers.

Sexuality
The two main characters in the trailer are a heterosexual couple. So this is who the trailer would be aimed for, as homosexual viewers may find it difficult to relate to the content. With this being aimed at heterosexual individuals the trailer will be relatable to a larger audience, as being heterosexual is the social norm and would is the majority group. So the film will be more profitable as we are aiming for a larger audience.

Occupation
Some clips of the trailer will be filmed at college and the main character (Ella) is a student. So overall the audience we are aiming for would be students or possibly people who are in higher education or just left college/university/school. As the age group we are aiming for is young adults, the majority of people in that group would be students.

Location
The film would be set in England as it shows social norms for a British audience. The UK is more knowledgeable to this abuse and for the majority it is not a problem for it to be shown in media texts. However in other cultures the film may be unsuitable to show, as they may not be relatable to the narrative and find the violence too unsuitable to show to individuals from that specific culture.

Class
Generally the class shown in this trailer would be middle-class as there are no issues shown involving money or poverty. However higher class and lower class individuals may still be aimed for the film as there is no content in the trailer that determines that the middle-class is not specifically shown.

Education Level
With mainly students being shown in the trailer this shows that the characters are involved in high education, however Ross the main male character is not in education and this represents the ideology that high educated people = good and low educated people = bad. This may a common stereotype but the audience will be able to understand instantly as they are knowledgeable of the stereotype. The audience that we are aiming at would be in higher education as they are students, and as Ross is hard working but working for little money this represents a struggle to live so makes the student life seem more beneficial.

BBFC - Classifications

One main part is to know what age group the trailer is directed to. The classification is very important as the audience will know what to expect from different classifications that have been attached to the product. It is also used to protect younger viewers from watching products certified for an older audience, that may psychologically harm or scare them.


I believe that the classification for the film should be at a 15 however the trailer shouldn't be at a 15 otherwise it would not be able to be shown as an advert so the trailer itself should be at a PG or U classification.

One scene in our trailer is when domestic violence is implied during the flashback scene with Ross towering about Ella. However no violence is shown so the trailer will be certified PG rather than at a 15.

Advertising Industry Codes of Practice

For the trailer to be produced it must apply to the advertising standards, so I looked at the BCAP code and picked out what applied to the trailer.

One main factor is who would view the trailer and it is possible that young children may view it The BCAP says that
"the protection of young viewers and listeners are always priority. Section 5: Children should be considered for all advertisements that:

i. are targeted at children or likely to interest them
ii. features children as professionals or amateurs
iii. could harmfully influence children even if not direct interest to them"

This would apply to our trailer as there is some scenes of implied violence, which may influence young children. However because it isn't shown and it only implied, it becomes less of a risk for children to imitate.

Looking at the Harm & Offence rules, there are a few that may apply to the trailer:

"4.1 - Advertisements must contain nothing that could cause physical, mental, moral and social harm to persons under the age of 18"
Again because the trailer is a thriller, we would like it to be moderately scary, however because of this rule it cannot be too scary, so for the trailer we will make it more suspenseful rather than horror.

"4.9 - Advertisements must not condone or encourage violence, crime, disorder or anti-social behaviour"
Our trailer does not encourage the violence that is implied as it suggests that the behaviour has to be overcome and shows the emotional consequences on others when that violent behaviour occurs. The trailer suggests that the anti-social behaviour (stalking) must be stopped.

Plot Synopsis Of The Film

This is the synopsis of the overall film that the trailer will be for;

At the start of the film the main character Ella who is 16 years old is in a relationship with Ross who is 20, however Ross starts to be abusive to Ella physically and verbally, he becomes more psychotic, extremely dangerous and very protective over her and Ella becomes terrified of him and is worried what he would do next. She confides in one of her friends for help and they comfort her and say that she has to end the relationship so she takes her friend's advice and ends it.
After the relationship ended she thought all her problems were over and she would not see Ross again however she then starts to feel that she is been watched over and becomes more nervous. This is when Ross starts to stalk Ella and has the motive of "If I can't have her, no-one can."
Over a period of time Ella receives threats and abuse over the phone from him including some threatening to kill her. As he keeps stalking her she begins to feel more in danger so she seeks help in one of her friends and they advise her to go to the police but she feels that this would make him more determined to try and kill her.
During the end of the film; Ella is at home and Ross calls her, she answers and now Ross knows she is at home alone so he tries to break in. Ella is terrified and tries to hide when Ross manages to break in. He then makes several attempts to kill her by being physically violent (punching, kicking etc) but she escapes and manages to defend herself for a while. When he attempts to kill her again she then accidentally kills him when defending herself. She then runs out of house and escapes leaving him dead in her house, she is injured and looks for help on the street.