Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question Two

The Killer (1)Because of the concealed camerawork we chose to use, the audience never discovers the identity of the first killer. However, we carefully chose the killer’s costume in order to assure the audience understand that the killer is a male. Therefore, this killer represents males as mysterious – and potentially dangerous – characters. This is similar to male stereotypes. For example, in Pyscho, you know that the killer is a man but are originally unaware of his identity. We chose to use this stereotype because generally, males are thought to be more mysterious and scary than females because of stereotypically, men are stronger – and thus more dangerous – than women. The killer’s body language throughout the opening scene appears to be relatively relaxed – his hands are open, not clenched. We carefully chose to do this because it shows that the killer is not worried about not catching the victim – he is confident that he will succeed. This also adheres to male stereotypes, seen as the more powerful figure who would succeed in doing what they need (or want) to. We chose for the killer to wear black because this connotes evil and danger.

Gender: MaleAge: UnknownClass: UnknownEthnicity: White

The Victim (1)The victim also adheres to their stereotypes. The victim is clearly a girl, because of her hair and choice of clothing. She is running from the victim. We chose to use the stereotype of scared, innocent, helpless females because this made the plot more interesting. The audience were able to anticipate what was going to happen when two contrasting personalities clashed. We made the victim wear white, because this colour connotes innocence and helplessness. As stereotypically, women are innocent and undeserving of suffering, this linked with what we chose to represent our victim as in the film. We chose to use the stereotypes of the innocent girl and not-so-innocent boy because this meant the audience we easily able to understand what was happening, despite us being able to still conceal the plot. Had we of chosen to have a woman chasing after a man, the audience may have found this more complex to grasp an understanding of what was happening. Doing it the way we did meant that the audience could understand what was happening but did not know why, and so continued to ask questions – one of the most important aspects of a Thriller film.

Gender: FemaleAge: UnknownClass: UnknownEthnicity: White

The Killer (2)We got to see a lot more of the second killer. Firstly, it is clear that this killer is also male. Again, this adheres to male stereotypes – mysterious, aggressive. We can also tell a lot from the fact this character is wearing a suit. This implies that he is a young adult – probably slightly older than a teenager. This creates the stereotype of young adults being dangerous to be around. Stereotypically, adults are caring towards younger people and seek to protect them. Thus, challenges the general stereotype of young adults. We chose to do this because it keeps the film more interesting for the audience. If every film adhered to the stereotypes, there would be no uniqueness to films. Additionally, this would mean that the film would be a lot less shocking. At the start of the opening, the killer is represented as being polite and kind. However, the sudden challenging of stereotype means that the film is a lot more shocking for the audience. We also challenged class in this scene. The suit that the killer wears suggests that he is of an upper class, and because of this, he would be thought to be less harmful. However, we also chose to challenge this stereotype.

Gender: MaleAge: Young adultClass: UpperEthnicity: White

The Killers

In the opening, both of the (male) killers are seen speaking to each other on the phone. This represents males as being more in contact with each other – possibly more supportive of each other. Both of the (female) victims in our film are represented as being a lot more isolated, and having nobody to help them when they are in need of it. Therefore, this is the opposite of how the killers are represented: staying in touch with each other and making sure that they support each other and keep them updated. We chose to show the scene of both of the killers talking because this allowed the audience to develop a connection between the two opening ‘assassinations’. They were able to gain a slight insight into what was happening, but it still left them asking questions. Showing both of the killers as a ‘team’ also acted as a tense moment because the audience are left wondering what would happen if they were together – one of them alone was enough to kill a person.

The Victim (2)

The second victim is also female – again representing females as being innocent and helpless. We chose to use a teenager as our victim. We dressed her in a hoodie because this is quite a stereotypical teenage dress item. However, the teenager is breaking stereotypes of being the ‘antisocial’, dangerous one. This is what teenagers are thought of being, but in this opening the teenager is seen to be quite scared and defenseless.Because of the hoodie, we can also make assumptions that the victim is of a lower class than the killer. We chose to represent her as this because it broke the stereotype that lower class people were more devious and unjust than upper class people. This kept the opening more interesting.

Gender: FemaleAge: TeenagerClass: LowerEthnicity: White

Contrast in StereotypesThere were two killings in our opening. During the first killing, the characters were represented very stereotypically. We did this so that the audience could gain an understanding of our film. It showed them that it was a thriller and they were able to grasp what was happening. However, during the second killing, we challenged many stereotypes – this completely contrasted with the first killing. The reason we chose to do this was because it made our film more interesting to the audience. This was a way of introducing the relationship between the two killers but in a way that the audience would be intrigued by. If both killings adhered to stereotypes, then the film would have been less interesting. If both killings challenged stereotypes, it would be a bit more confusing to understand what was happening. Therefore, this contrast in stereotypes meant that we were able to introduce the main antagonists of the film in a way that the audience were able to understand and be interested by.

Representation of Suffolk

Our film is set in Suffolk. We chose to set it here because it meant we were able to ‘play’ with the stereotypes of the area in order to make our film more interesting. Firstly, we represented Suffolk as being an isolated place. In the first killing, there is no sign of houses, people or any form of help. This meant that the victim was represented as being helpless and isolated. We chose to do this because it made the killing more interesting. However, we did choose to break a stereotype of Suffolk as well. Usually, Suffolk is thought to be a quiet countryside area with minimal danger. Despite this, we showed Suffolk as being a place where assassins work together. Not only did it make the film more interesting, but it would have made the audience question themselves about whether they are safe in their own location. Even if it seems it – like Suffolk did – there could still be danger. The breaking of this stereotype made the film a lot more scary for the audience.