How does your media product represent particular social groups?

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

Question 2 by Louise Shannon Cole

Representation of Gender

In our film, we only have male characters. Originally we were going to have a female murder victim, with a male who committed the murder, which would have portrayed a stereotype that males are more likely to murder a woman, however, we changed it to having a male murder victim.

Representation of age

Our main character, the murder victim is 20 years old, the detective is 30 years old and the murderer is 24 years old. The oldest character is the detective, which makes sense, because he has experience in his field of work.

Mise en scene

For the characters in our film, we had to consider what they would wear, to make sure this matched the type of person they were.

From left to right: The murderer, the murder victim and the cop

Representation of the killer

Throughout the film, the killer wore dark black clothes. This can give the impression to the audience that the killer could be dangerous, through the emphaization of wearing complete dark clothing items. When the killer is talking to the detective on the phone, and planning the murder through the game of cards, his room has low key lighting, which not only gives off a creepy look, but also shows that something bad may happen in the film.

The dark and shadowy look of the room can be seen during the planning of the game.

Representation of the killer

During many parts of the film, the killer's full face isn't shown, which we have done by using camera angles in order to only show small sections of his face. By doing this, it is able to increase the mystery of the character.

Representation of the detective

The detective is first introduced as being a detective when the killer phones him up and asks if he is "detective" Mark Wayne. The use of "detective" in front of his name states his importance.In the film, the detective doesn't wear a particular uniform, and instwad wears more "casual" clothing, which could show that he has been in the job a long time, but could also show that he is going "undercover", so that he isn't spotted by the general public as a detective, neither by the killer, who may not know what the detective actually looks like.

Representation of the victim

Throughout the film, the victim is wearing casual clothing, which represents that they are a normal person. By using mise en scene, it gives the audience an impression that the victim is a normal young adult, through the casual clothing he is wearing, and typical activities, such as making a hot drink.

Mise en scene of the kitchen shows a generally plain white kitchen, with normal everyday objects, such as a kettle.The use of low key lighting, here in the kitchen scene, could make the audience wonder if something is going to happen to the victim.

Challenge stereotypes or use them?

I think that our film clip uses stereotypes for how the thre main characters are represented, particuarly for the killer, who wears dark clothing, which symbolises that he is dangerous.

The victim is a young adult, and he is dressed casually, how a typical young person may dress.

However, I don't think that our detective is represented in a stereotypical way compared to other detective characters in different television shows, such as BBC Sherlock, where Detective Inspector Lestrade generally wears smart clothing, like a suit.

Challenge stereotypes or use them? Comparison of our detective versus BBC

Sherlock's Detective Inspector Lestrade.