Target Audience Research #1- Silence of the Lambs

Image result for silence of the lamb 1988 original poster

Silence of the Lambs (1988)

Target Audience-

The target audience of the Silence of the lambs was for young adult and adults because of the film being rated r. This is important because the rating of the film restricts it from young audiences lowering the potential income. The reason it was restricted was due tot he controversial topic discusses and the explicit gore. Both of these thing are found in my film and therefore if my film were to be rated it would be restricted due tot he similar aspects.

Marketing-

 The marketing for this film consisted of very similar marketing techniques employed in all film marketing such as billboards, radio broadcast, and print in popular magazines such as The New York times. All of the prints showcase some feature of the poster  for the film from above. But the emphasis was in the death moth as it would intrigue the audience and make their curiosity grow forcing them to go see the movie to find out what it about.  However, one marketing tactic that is unique to this film was how they carved door frames to elevator in popular hotels with marking found in a now iconic scene from the film. The marketing team went out their way to hire professional metal sculptor to replicate these installations in certain locations that receive a lot of traffic such as New York to get the same effect as the previously mentioned death moth.

Poster-

The movie poster has been recognized as modern classic for it simplicity. The poster as can be seen above is a grainy black and white  of the main protagonist's face Foster. Her mouth is covered by the death moth with the skull on the back of the moth slightly exaggerated than how it truly appear in nature. The main cast list is listed and located along the top of the poster. With some poster having the quote of the film being based off a New York Best Selling book. This poster created play of the persuasive technique of Pathos playing on the emotional draw of the audience fear to intrigue them due moth being on her face intrude the audience. The moth helps not only make the connection with the book but the moth is a major plot element that is the referenced int he trailers. Also it's important to mention that Anthony Hopkins is not actually seen in the poster as he wasn't as well known as Foster in 1991 so the marketing team could play on the nostalgic connection of the audience.

Trailers -

The trailers, unlike the poster actually focused on the antagonist charter of Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lector. This is because the trailers open up with a few shots of the calm nature of the Buffalo Bill case that would work as the backbone of the plot. However Anthony Hopkins characters come in and makes is obvious that he is psychotic and but not fully give away that he is a cannibal. Towards the end of the trailer the pacing is escalated with faster shorter takes that focus on the the psychology and cat-and-mouse relationship of Hannibal and Foster. ending with the implication that Hannibal will be escaping as some point in the film. By having this cliffhanger at the end of the trailers it plays with the purview technique of curiosity emotion of the audience. The trailer was edited in very plain linear style similar to the trailers in 2019 meaning the trailer could hold up very well in present day. 

Possible Use-

This technique of using some aspect from the film as marketing tactic is very interesting and could easily be used to market my film. For example in my film a Scout Butchery food packaging is seen. existing food packaging can be changed to resemble  my packaging and therefore promote my film. This would be taken inspiration from the elevator carving that where used to market the film. The style of the could be mimic by instead having a close up of the  antagonist ,Scout, from my film as the main image with a grainy texture surrounding it. The title and text placement could be mimicked exactly form the this poster as it is a very conventional way. When it comes to the  trailers of the film could be edited similar y having a slower paced beginning introducing the main problem and then having it dramatically changing to it a me fast paced ,shorter take of the main violence of the film. Ending the trailers with the shot of Scout staring right into the camera. 

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