Target Audience - The Socially Anxious (nerds, mostly)

As with our first project, the target audience for our production piece is very similar to ourselves. Our film is heavily inspired by Tatsuhiko Takimoto's 'Welcome to the N.H.K', in particular, the anime adaption. We'll detail 'Welcome to the N.H.K' in a separate blog post, what's important to take note of is that it features a socially anxious protagonist, known as a 'hikikomori'. 'Hikikomori' is a Japanese term, literally meaning, 'pulling inward, being confined', it refers to adolescents and young adults who withdraw from society and social life, becoming recluses who spend all of their time in their homes. Technically, the term applies to anyone who spends over 6 months withdrawn from society in their home, who refuses to leave.
Although originating in Japan, cases of hikikomori behaviour have been reported in other, more western countries. While Jonathan and I are not hikikomoris, hikikomori behaviour is an extension of social anxiety, and that is something that we both know all too well. I'll explain what social anxiety is briefly, just to provide some background if you're unfamiliar with it.

Social anxiety is a feeling of insecurity and generally, fear, associated with social situations. It is a fairly common condition affecting adolescents, which occasionally develops into a chronic disorder. I'd say that everyone experiences social anxiety to some degree, if we didn't then everybody would be carefree all the time, talking to anybody and everybody without hesitation. Some psychologists speculate that social anxiety, and to a greater extent, stress, is directly related to our natural survival instincts; feelings which trigger biological responses designed to decrease the risk of a perceived threat. Logic would dictate that our minds are perceiving modern day 'threats', and our bodies are reacting as instinct tells them to.

It is generally believed that people who express hikikomori behaviour do so because the anxiety surrounding social situations overwhelms them. In Japan, the education system is much more intense, creating a 'pressure cooker' scenario for youths, this stress can push the youth to reclusive tendencies, eventually resulting in a complete withdrawal from society. The education system over here in Britain is much less intense, however still has many 'examinations', 'mark schemes', and so forth; in other words, students living in the UK are required to submit a lot of work, and when they are not producing coursework, they will be expected to 'revise their subject knowledge' for exams, this means that they have a reduced amount of free time, and an enormity of expectations and stresses placed upon them. I think that anyone who has been through the system, even just the latter years of comprehensive school, and not sixth form or university, will empathise with the feeling of just walking away from all of the responsibilities placed upon them. The difference between Japan and Britain is that there is an increased focus on the shame of academic failure in Japan, whereas British society is not quite as competitive.

Our production piece features a social recluse, a British hikikomori of sorts. We were inspired by Welcome to the N.H.K, when we watched the anime adaption, we were able to relate to the protagonist's anxiety, and that made the whole experience much more immersive and meaningful. Because of this, our target audience is again, people similar to us, not necessarily 'nerdy' people, but people who are socially anxious. Also people who know Welcome to the N.H.K.