Question 2 Evaluation

Question 2:How does your media product represent

particular social groups?

Emma MarshallAnnamaria Noto

Bridget Cardenas Pazmino

What social group does your main character represent and why?

Our main character, Amber, represents teenagers and young adults who are rebellious and wild.

We chose this social group because typical supernatural horror films tend to focus on shy and innocent characters as their victims and their main characters so we wanted to be different and introduce a different social group into the supernatural horror subgenre.

How did you represent your character through mes-en-scene?

• Costumes, props, make up

The leather jacket Amber wears is an effective way or portraying her rebellious nature and character.

The red dress is signifies danger – Amber ultimately is in danger, but the audience could also question whether she’s going to bring danger, either to herself or perhaps to her friend.

The prop of the mobile phone highlights the fact that Amber and her friend are lost as the phone screen shows a map. It also indicates that the time era is modern.

Both Amber and her friend’s make up is simple – it’s the

typical ‘everyday’ make up for that of a teenage girl

(mascara, light eyeliner and a touch of concealer), implying

that they didn’t expect to find themselves at a graveyard. It

tells the audience they had planned for an ordinary day so

the make up generally emphasises the fact that the

situation they find themselves in wasn’t planned for.

The red eye contacts were used to suggest and tell the audience

about Amber’s possession. During the sequence her eyes are her

original blue but after the implied attack, she has become possessed

with red eyes.

• Facial expressions & body language

Amber’s confident walk towards the tree emphasises her

rebellious side and reinforced the fact she

is not scared.

The friend’s facial expression suggests she might be feeling vulnerable in this location and she is clearly scared and distressed.

Amber’s facial expression when she first sees the location suggests excitement and bravery. She seems intrigued to explore the graveyard and happy with what she sees.

The friend’s body language seems frustrated with Amber when Amber doesn’t want to

leave. Her fear is confirmed when we see the friend

backing away slowly and then running.

Amber’s body language and hand gestures emphasise her excitement and love of the graveyard. Especially when she brushes her friend off. It comes across as if she doesn’t care about her friend anymore and she just wants to explore.

Amber’s facial expression once she opens her eyes at

the end really emphasises her possession. Here eyes are

widened more than usual and she seems emotionless.

• Locations

• We filmed on a grassy area in the graveyard to convey that Amber’s rebellious character resulted in the wrong decision of going into the graveyard alone. This is evident as she is no longer where the graves are, but in a more isolated area.

• This location was used to enhance the eerie atmosphere through the idea of an abandoned area.

• We filmed near the entrance of the graveyard to highlight that Amber’s rebelliousness leads to curiousness.

• This location of the graveyard gives connotations of death and ghosts etc., which initiates a sense of foreboding. This reflects that Amber refuses to think of the consequences, which reinforces that she is a stereotypical rebellious teenager.

Location 2: Entrance of the graveyard

Location 3: Near the tree in the graveyard

• Also, we filmed near the tree in graveyard to emphasise that Amber was rebellious and appeared fearless (as it was an isolated area which gives connotations of potential danger).

• Furthermore, this portrays that she was curious of the ‘Mystery Creature’ watching her from tree.

How did you represent your character through the camera shots and editing?

• In the first scene there is a close up shot of Amber showing that something has happened to her as she is on the floor. There is then a dissolve transition into the movie to show a flashback.

• The phone used in the overhead shot indicates that she is young/ modern, and shows the audience she is lost.

• The close up facial expressions show Amber’s eagerness and excitement, representing her as quite rebellious and wild.

• The fast paced editing of the cross cutting emphasises her determination but also highlights her vulnerability.

How did you represent your character through the music?

• At the beginning the music represents Amber as someone who is probably quite close to her friend as they are walking together and it is calm.

• However, adding the non-diegetic music further on built up the tension for the following scenes and shows Amber is more interested in the graveyard than her friend.

• As soon as Amber is alone the music changes dramatically, highlighting the danger, but also her rebelliousness.

• As she gets closer to the tree the non diegetic intensifies, along with the diegetic sound effects of the heartbeat and the footsteps on the ground.

• The dramatic non-diegetic sound used at the very end when Amber opens her eyes is used to scare the audience and indicated her possession.