Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

The poster is promoted and marketed to appeal to a male target audience. In terms of age the poster attracts a young group (7 to 15 years old) who have an interest in playing video games, watching cartoons and watching action films. The overall layout is simple and basic therefore easily understandable for a younger age group. The dark colours in poster 1 present a sense of mystery so the audience are intrigued to find out more about the film. In addition, the red and black showcased are fitting for a young male audience. The images we included are of the main character which is obviously a young boy who wants a challenge and an adventure. All features suggest that it is light hearted which is not to be taken too seriously so is not appropriate for a mature audience. The film poster is most likely to be discovered in teenage boy magazine. The magazine is more appropriate for this particular target audience so there is more of a chance of the primary audience coming across the film poster.

A key aim of the opening sequence of ‘Ninja Child’ is to gain attention and generate interest. To begin, the opening sequence starts with a slow zoom out of the sword and the ninja mask, which captures the main features that relate to the film. Within the opening sequence we incorporated a series of long shots that only showcase the back of his head. The ninja’s identity is not revealed, therefore enforcing a sense of mystery and therefore achieving the aim of keeping interest. As the film progresses there are various cuts to the Ninja Child’s images and articles that all relate to the subject matter of ninjas. From this we can gather that this child has an unusual obsession with ninjas. In the beginning the Ninja Child is established as an inconspicuous character who the audience know little about. The majority of shots are close ups of small details in order for the audience to ask questions throughout. The main character builds a sense of interest which effectively attracts and addresses the audience. The fast past cuts in editing promote an energetic mood. The upbeat soundtrack is consistent though out the opening sequence, to reflect the codes and conventions of a children’s comedy. The playground music is remixed to resemble a ninja soundtrack, which enforces a comical effect. In addition, the costume the ninja is wearing is all black, indicating that he takes himself too seriously and again reinforcing a comical element which addresses the audience. 

Children’s comedy should intend to create laughter; the audience expect this to be present within scenes. In this case, we achieved this with the use of props. The ‘Ninja Childs’ props include a plastic sword; a ninja mask and a ‘Fight me’ sign to make his immaturity evident and clear in the opening sequence. From our research we concluded that comedy is popular and will appeal to the target audience range of 7-15 year olds.

Karate Kid shares a similar theme in which the subject matter of a challenge is proposed. Researching films that consist of a similar theme to our opening sequence enabled us to have a better understanding of what is normally expected in films of this nature. Likewise to our narrative, Dre Parker faces a challenge to overcome bullies and triumph to success. Both characters demonstrate personal growth, a following theme that can be applied to our film. The matter of a challenge is prominent throughout the film and is key aspect to the narrative. The audience begin to question the outcome the film such as will he succeed or fail his challenge? With this the audience, are gripped and continue to watch on to discover more.

In conclusion, our film has effectively attracted the primary and secondary audience. We researched successful films that share similar themes and researched the codes and conventions of children’s comedy, effectively resulting in the audience being addressed and attracted.