MP - The Struggle Inside - Target Audience (10-15) Research

The target audience for my animation is 10-15, so its an average of about 12. This age is at a certain point in a child's life, as its when there looking for something a little more grown up but still in there comfort zone. For the majority of young children, there comfort zone is cartoons. The 'edge' for a young boy may be more of a focus on action or violence.

Now I will look more into it:

Some great examples come from 'family films' as they encompass a large area of audience.

The Incredibles

The Incredibles could be a perfect example of the family film (as are most Pixar films), but it is also a lot more action focused then many of Pixars other outputs. It is also based on the premises of Superheroes. These elements all point to a more young male focus.

Astheticly, Pixar must make the film appealing to a young audience to draw them in as well as the humour for the adults. This leads to bold colours and strong lines.

Project:

The Image above shows the use of a limited colour palette. That use of colour is very similar to how cartoons and comics operate. To make my animation suitable for the target audience, I will follow the same rules and not overcomplicate the scene with an explosion of colours.

Ben 10

'Ben 10', and it's continuations 'Ben 10 Alien Force' and 'Ben 10 Ultimate Alien' are a modern popular cartoon series airing on Cartoon Network. The target audiecne for the 'Ben 10' serieses is a young male audience and it borrows heavily from super hero comics. Again, like with 'The Incredibles' the colour pallete is limited, mainly down to a green colour.

'Ben 10' constitutes the shift in interest in young males. They no longer want a simple cartoon but one that feels more grown up. The action and violence found in 'Ben 10' provided that.

Avengers: Earths Mightest Heroes

'Avengers: Earths Mightest Heroes' takes it stlye from it's source material, the comics that there based on. Due to this, you can see the thick lines and especially the bold colours, predominatly red. This style makes it look similar to the comic books without outright becoming one. It looks like a mix between comic and cartoon.


Project:

From looking into shows and films that share a common target audience, I'm able to see what relates them. One aspect is the cartoon/3D approach and the styles that a cartoon offers.

Content:
The content that will be found in my animation must appeal to the audience that I am aiming at. The key ingredient to that seems to be violence, but never intense violence. It must be suitable for the age. This is also not to be mistaken for violence 24/7. From a narrative point of view, there must be down times and a break from the action.

Asthetics:
From a style point of view, the colours and shapes must be bold and strong lines.. The colours limited to magnify the ones that are there.

From this I will look into Cel Shading (Toon Shading) and the look of a comic book (Popart - Roy Lichtenstein). This will give me an artistic style and make it more appealing for the target audience.