Gender: Males

There are several possibilities of a secondary audience. Firstly, the film could be watched by older age groups particularly around the mid 20s as they have only recently left similar scenarios behind which could make them want to watch the film as a form of escapism from adult life. Similarly, even an older audience could watch the film as issues like mental illness do not just affect the young and inexperienced. Due to the young demographic, they are likely to be occupied by adults while watching the film as parents will want to make sure it is appropriate or even have to be there for the child's allowance into the cinema viewing. Fans of gritty films produced by companies like Film4 may watch due to rating the companies involved in the film highly after watching and enjoying previous productions. Lastly, the film could be viewed by some to be educated by the issues brought up in the film out of curiosity and naivety.

After extensive research of planning of age films, we have purposely chosen certain parts of our opening to engage this specific age group. The target age will be 13-21 year olds, as they are most likely to understand and relate to the protagonist social pressures and his life in general. We have made sure that our opening immerses these ages by having a fast paced opening to keep them interested and an actor of a similar age playing the protagonist. Our film has a rather mature narrative which older children will only fully understand, hence the age range. This helps the audience develop an awareness and understanding of the topic the film explores. However, this age range is not rigid as an older audience will still find the narrative relevant and exciting, being able to enjoy the film. We do feel that anyone younger than the age specified will not cohere with the issues and could be distressed by the narrative.

We have aimed our film at a lower demographic of E and D as we believe our target age are likely to fit into these demographics more than higher ones, for example students. As the film has a very unique and interesting narrative which is not childish it does not isolate members of a higher demographic. This shows the films versatility as it could hold the interest of many instead of just a specific group.

Our film and opening will target both genders, but the ale demographic may have more of an appeal to the film. The opening covers issues that both genders could relate to, mental illness,so the narrative will immerse the viewers for this reason. However, our as our protagonist is male, therefore the same gender will feel that the relationship built with the character is relevant and real to them. Also, certain elements of the film such as the characters interests, may be engage males more than females as they share the same hobbies and opinions. This slightly challenges some 'coming of age' films as many such as Almost Famous have a female target gender, meaning our film will be more like Kickass and 21 Jump Street which target young males.

Uses and Gratifications- Katz and Bulmer The film could be used as a way of escaping from real life troubles. The tension and thriller element of the film adds to the coming of age genre well as audiences like the unknown and mystery of the narrative. This is shown in the opening when the character is clearly unstable and oblivious of his whereabouts. Also, our primary audience are likely to use the flm for this reason as they want to relax from school etc. Another use is that the audience identifies with the characters due to sharing the same gender and age, along with other interests and knowledge. The themes involved will possibly reassure the viewer as they are not alone as the film shows people are having the same experience. This can also be down to cultures shared. Lastly, as I have mentioned, some will want to be informed and made aware of the certain parts of the protagonits life, from his age to problems.

This theory considers how texts are encoded with deeper moral meanings, and how they are understood by the audience. Audiences will either understand the deeper meaning/message, or they will misunderstand or reject the idea. Dominant- where an audience understands the meaning and generally agrees with it Negotiated- where an audience neither agrees, nor disagrees with meaning, or holds no interest Oppositional- where an audience understands the meaning, but rejects it, maybe because of cultural, political or ideological views they hold. The film is likely to fall under the dominant section as the audience will mainly be watched due to the protagonist being of a similar age and interest. This fits our primary audience and also the uses of the film which I have stated.

As the film is an independent and gritty styled film produced and distributed by minor companies, it is unlikely that the audience will exceed the UK, as if it was to reach the US it would need the backing of a major company, but the film is not a blockbuster. Furthermore, many of the items and scenes will only be fully understood by a British audience as the film is set in the UK, For example, some humour and comments will only be relevant to an audience from the sam eplace as the protagonist.

We used fast editing and a variety of shots to engage our audience. From our research we found that most coming of age films contain a revelation of the narrative in the opening as the age group are most interested in the film than conventions such as the credits. We have used voice overs to a similar effect to inform the audience of the narrative as it needs to be simplistic to immerse the viewers, otherwise they would lose interest in the film and the opening. The voice overs such as the one from the protagonist mother engages the audience as they are young and their parents still have a heavy influence in their lives Lastly, the protagonist himself represents the target audience, meaning his issues and interests also reflect the audience. (See uses and gratifications for more detail)