R+P Post 5: How we plan to attract/address our target audience

To reach our target audience, our opening sequence must incorporate the conventions of the teen comedy genre such as identifiable and relatable characters in a high school. The narrative of our film will take on a similar form to "Mean Girls", "John Tucker Must Die" and "She's The Man" in which a new equilibrium is reached by the end of the film. In all 3 of these examples, a new student joins a school where they must conform to social standards in order to succeed. This will also be included in our production.

As our target audience is teenagers between 15 and 24, a high school setting will address them as it is familiar environment, and the audience can empathise with the main character as they will have experienced starting a new school at some point. The audience will expect to see the conventions of 'coming of age' films and themes typically associated with young people such as partying, drinking, conflict with parents/friends.
Usually, openings of this genre introduce an isolated or alienated character and establish the setting for the rest of the film. ("John Tucker Must Die")

Our film aims to attract young people of both genders although certain themes will be skewed to a male or female audience. For example, the stereotypical cliques in high school films may be more relatable for a female audience (this is effective in "Mean Girls" and "Wild Child"). Portraying the main character as an outsider allows the viewers to sympathise with him. The soundtrack through the sequence will be fast-paced to connote the busy environment in a school and engage the audience from the beginning.

However, the film may also appeal to our secondary and tertiary audiences (aged 25+) , through the inclusion of well-known teenage stereotypes. It will have a similar narrative strucure to, and contain conventions of other genres (comedy and drama) which attract a wider range of ages. Arguing with friends/parents could make the film more relatable for a family audience.

"21 Jump Street" has a similar target audience to our film, and the opening scene creates humour for the audience through the depiction of high school in 2005. This is contrasted with the modern high school that they join undercover, in which most of the social norms are inversed. This is also appealing to our target audience as it defies the stereotypes that you would see in most 'coming of age' films. The style and visuals of "21 Jump Street" and "Superbad" are also appropriate