AS Coursework Essay

“Explain the methods you used to attract your audience in your AS coursework.”

During Year 12, we were taught how different and diverse audiences are, we learnt that film companies these days spend a lot of time and money into researching their target audiences, their interests , hobbies and lifestyles can determine what goes into a film. Our task for our coursework was to film and edit the opening of a Thriller film.  As a group we researched the techniques that are used in filming and editing as well as the main conventions that are used in order to attract target audiences. We focused on 4 main areas whilst filming our opening ; Camera , Editing, Mise-En-Scene and Sound.

Camera is important as there are many different shots and camera angles to use whilst filming. Before we started to film, we knew that it was important to plan the storyboard with each individual shot and the effect of that shot. To do this we needed to research which types of shots and angles are used in Thriller films today. By watching examples of Thriller openings we knew that “Close Ups” were an important feature as audiences react to what they see on the screen whether it be a murder weapon or severed head. We incorporated this into our Thriller opening by using close up shots on the agency symbol tattoos on different characters. This attracts the audience as it makes them question the significance of this mysterious symbol and whether or not these people are linked. Thrillers are meant to keep the audience thinking and questioning what they are seeing. Our audience would want to know the answer to the possible link and we as a group felt that we should not directly give it to them but rather give them more clues as seen later on in our opening where one of the characters opens a briefcase with two documents with the symbol on it as well as the identities of two of the characters. As it was the opening of a film it was important not to give too much away and reveal it all in the end and give our audience the chance to figure it out for themselves.

One other important camera technique we made use of was the shot composition and framing. Throughout our film opening we follow two men in suits walking and we composed the shot to only show the men at mid-height bodylength and not reveal their faces. This type of shot surrounds the two men in mystery and suspense which makes the audience think about what they are doing and where they are going. It also adds an element of danger coming from these two men as their identities are unknown to the audience. We never reveal in the opening what these two characters were up to and who they were, never revealing all the parts of a story in commonly used in films nowadays especially Thrillers and this is what we wanted to do.

There are also many Editing techniques that are crucial to define the genre of a film to an audience. Because this was an opening to a film, credits and titles are normally shown to show who was involved in the film making process. But they also set the mood and tone for the film and set the audience up for what they were about to watch. We chose a particular font for our credits as well as a different font for our film title. A font for a Thriller title is normally quite plain and simple and we decided to stick to that convention. By doing this it attracts our target audience to our film. By doing this, our target audience knows what they are in for and what to expect this movie to be about, we really had to define the genre in our opening and I think we achieved it. Another technique that we used was a lack of a motivated cut. A motivated cut is where a character in the film is looking at someone/something and the camera cuts to it to reveal it to the audience. In our opening we see a door open and the character looks at the door but we do not cut to the door to see who is there, the shock on his face makes the audience want to see who it is but we chose not to give them it and this creates suspense and therefore attracts our audience.

Mise-En-Scene relates to the props, lighting and setting of each shot and it is important as we had to make our opening as authentic as possible. Costume is an important part of it and we made sure that each character that we created had a set costume which would fit within the Thriller genre. The two men wore black suits in order to convey them as smart dressed and serious. The boy in our opening wore casual everyday type clothes in order to display his innocence and normality. The gun and the laptop were important props as it attracts the tech loving, gadget males that will expect to see this sort of feature in a Thriller film. Props are essential to the story and can also play a big role with each character. We chose to set many of our scenes in rural towns and urban settings. We specifically chose the paths and alleyways for the two suited men to walk down in order to create mystery as we did not reveal too much of their surroundings. By keeping the audience guessing it draws them in with the film and many Thrillers tend to do just that and this is was we were aiming for.


Thriller films also tend to use a musical score as well as just dialogue. Because we chose not to feature any dialogue in our opening it leaves it up to the audience to interpret what is going on in the screen through what they are seeing rather than hearing. We also decided to use a musical track in the opening to set the mood of the film. We as a group chose a copyright free song to match the scenes as well as create intensity through the sound. Sound in a film attracts audience as seen with many films such as Tron Legacy or Inception.