How do mainstream films target or maximise their audience?

How do mainstream films target and maximise their audience? Refer to Straight Outta Compton to support your points ( 10 marks)

In the media industry, there are many ways in which films target their audiences as well as attempt to expand it. In the mainstream film "Straight Outta Compton", there are many ways in which this is done.

One way is through the use of storyline and actors. Straight Outta Compton is a biographical film based on the group of N.W.A which consisted of members such as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy E. The storyline would maximise their audience as many older individuals may recognise them and remember listening to their albums and music as they made quite a big impact in black urban music. the storyline can also contribute to maximising audiences as many people can relate to and remember their journey towards now. In the movie, there are real life events that are presented such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots which is a very memorable event that occurred where 2,000 California Army National Guardsmen patrolled the city to attempt to restore order in the city. The 1992 L.A riots was a serious riot that lasted five days which was described as a civil disturbance. This maximises audiences as they will be intrigued to learn more in depth what exactly happened for the people who have never heard about it to help educate young people about the kind of problems people faced in past and present times. This relates to the social context of guns and violence in society.

Another way in which mainstream films maximise and target their audience is through the use of product placement promotions. In Straight Outta Compton, there are many brands and companies that are implicitly being advertised due to what the actors are either wearing or using. The most noticeable promotion comes at the end of the film when Dr.Dre starts his own music label. As it shows the future of Dre's venture into the music world alone, it shows viewers that he created Beats by Dre. This is a promotional act as it allows people watching the film to recognise what his company and hopefully persuade individuals to purchase the product because it is being advertised by a big company itself. Due to the age certificate of the movie being 15, teenagers are most likely to ask their parents to buy it for them.

On the other hand, a different way in which mainstream films maximise their audience is through the use of promotional marketing campaign. Straight Outta Compton has done this successfully as the promotion poster has become a viral trend where people are recreating the poster with their own twist to it. This allows audiences to get more involved in the promotion of the movie as it allows others who are not aware of the film to be influenced to check where the trend started fro and make them interested in learning about the film. This is a good way to maximise their audience as many celebrities such as athletes, musicians actors and models have also taken part in the marketing campaign such as Serena Williams, Jamie Foxx and many other celebrities. They put a tool on their website straightouttasomwhere.com to allow users to upload a picture and a step saying "Straight Outta" then putting their city. This was first started by Dr.Dre's company Beats.The involvement from audience got the campaign a Shorty Award.

An alternative way in which mainstream films target their audience is the genre  of music. Straight Outta Compton is about the beginning of black urban music such as rap. Individuals that are interested in this the of music are more likely to listen watch the film as they may want to know how exactly rap music started to become a genre. It can also appeal to people that do not listen to or are unfamiliar to rap music. This would allow them to want to take interest in the movie as it will help them to better understand the genre and may even influence them to become interested in listening to that genre and maybe even listen to some of the music produced by some of the artists that the appear in the movie.

Mainstream films can also maximise their audience through the trailer. Unlike many other films, Straight Outta Compton took into consideration the diversity in audiences so they decided to make three different trailers for the movie to target black, white and hispanic people to be persuaded to watch the film in the cinema. The use of different trailer to appeal to different audiences allows the film to be more appealing to others as it does not subject itself to a specific demographic. This pursues others to talk more openly about the film as it is not aimed at a certain group, but instead it involves every group and does not isolate anyone as it spreads the message that fils should not be subjective of their audiences.