Detailed Description of our Target Audience

The type of audience that we are aiming to attract and believe would be interested in our media product would be teenagers firstly, mainly those between the ages of 14/15-19 and also people in their early twenties. Our music video though does have a narrative that at times would appeal to more diverse minds, that of such an adult, as the concepts of understanding how the storyline moves in a continuous transition to build to the finale can be difficult to grasp. However the themes within our video that are expressed are suitable for any age group and do not discriminate against any social group.

In terms of gender our product represents males and females fairly as our narrative explores, this in relation to our target audience means that we have a diverse spectrum of males and females that would show their interest. In particular the genre comes into play to determine the extent to which these people, from a variety of backgrounds, would go to presenting their liking of our piece of film. In a contradictory sense, our music video is in the niche category of punk-rock, but it is known now that music crosses many boundaries and with that a cross of genres. Overall our product would appeal to a mixture of people, but those mainly with an interest in the rock/punk genre who are both male and female, with genders identifying with the characters on screen in a constant comparison to their own lives.

Social grouping is important in the idea that the audience interested in our video will have similar values and opinions, thus meaning that the idea of anarchy and that music is above all else means that many of our target audience will despise work and holding down an occupation to link them. Instead cultural values and a pure thirst for their music needs (uses and gratifications theory) bind them together.

Media Grouping

Our target audience will generally be like most teenagers to a degree with interests in T.V shows like Skins, The Inbetweeners, Misfits, Friends, The Walking Dead etc. In the film area, our target audience will be interested in a range of horrors: the Saw series, Halloween, Dawn of the Dead, they will also like Action/Adventure films and/or thrillers (The Departed, Inception etc) and also most definately plenty of comedy. The music scene that they refer to will rarely stray far from that of Heavy Metal/Rock/Punk/Pop-Punk/Metal/Post-Hardcore e.g: Bullet for my Valentine, The Sex Pistols, Blink 182, Metallica, Blessthefall.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Escapism-the viewer gets lost within our video, they believe in what is happening on screen as they are compelled to find out what is the end result of our narrative.
Identification- the audience put themselves in the position of the lead actress and lead actor. The emotion they show allows the viewers to empathise with the characters and relate to problems that they may have in their own lives.
Information-the audience learn about our genre of music (if not already familiar) and are informed on social issues and their consequences. Our video reflects society and the current affairs that take place in our community.
Entertainment-the audience feel an emotional release, diverting their everyday problems and fulfilling their aesthetic needs.
Social Interaction-the audience can use our video as a talking point to interact with others through the media or conversation. It will link people with common issues and similar interests.

Dyer's Utopian Solutions

This is a quote from Richard Dyer:

"The notion of entertainment as in some sense utopian -- expressing ideals about how human life could be organized and lived --is implicit in what the most widespread assumption about entertainment, namely, that it provides 'escape.' Entertainment offers the image of 'something better' to set against the realities of day-to-day existence."

In relation to our music video and our target audience, we are aiming to give our audience something to believe in and identify with the common idea of love, for a person, or for music, a band, etc, anything in the media can help "escape" the harsher realities of life. Our media product entertains and provides another world where the viewer can metaphorically step into the position of the characters. Dyer speaks of exhaustion in people's live, we fill this in our video with fast, lively cuts, and a sped up replay of our narrative at the end. He also talks of society today as being a world of manipulation, where things aren't clear, community values have gone, our video combats this by using themes that are common to the majority of people, like love and relationships (sincerity).

Dyer comes close to the idea of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs the thought that we need media for self-actualization and self-esteem to feel like we belong into a social group. Our video brings up important talking points that our target audience can develop into conversation, fulfilling their needs for social interaction.