Research Into similar products

I decided to research “Skins” as it is targeted towards a similar audience as, my short film as they are both meant to be “show that shows what being a teenager is really like” (IMDB User Review)

One of the objectives of my film is to give teenagers of both genders between the ages of 16 and 18, something to watch that they can actually relate to. However it is not only targeted towards that age gap. I hope to create something that will be interesting for any age, as it focuses on decisions in life, which is something everyone can relate to.  

I read through the user reviews and “Skins” is very much in line with what I am aiming for, a top quality production, with low expectations, but with excellent acting, and relatable characters with a real message.  I want it to be more then a “teen only drama”

“Skins has grown in popularity with more than 1.5 million people tuning in to the start of the recent fourth series. Although its target audience is teenagers, it has become something of a guilty pleasure for curious viewers far older.”

I do understand that as a show “Skins” has the assets of being able to hook their audience, as it is a series, however according to my research there is an audience for this type of show in a short film format.  

Television ratings

The pilot episode of Skins averaged 1.5 million viewers. The ratings for the second series which launched peaked at 884,000 viewers, which gave it 5.9% audience share and taking 60% of the 16-24 demographic, however this was still more than 500,000 viewers down on its series one premiere. The series finale attracted an audience of 740,000 on E4, equating to a 4.65% share of the audience. The start of the third series drew in 877,000 viewers, proving popular with its key audience demographic of younger people — 56.2% of viewers were aged between 16 and 34. Series 4 premiered with 1.5 million viewers across E4 and E4+1, the highest rated episode since series 1.
 

This information proves that there is a large target audience for this type of show, this genre that some critics acclaim to be “tired” has been brought back for viewers of all ages.

The style of this show is very unlike American TV Teenaged drama’s , like 90210, or Gossip Girl. Like my short film “Skins” is more tailored for the UK audience, it is stylised in a more realistic and often gritty way, using de-saturated lighting and loud rock music to set the scenes as hard core and naturalistic.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840196/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840196/usercomments

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/may/26/teenagers-skins-e4-film-television

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skins_(TV_series)#Reception