2)- How does your media product represent particular social groups?
First of all, in order for a thriller film to work, it'll need certain types of characters included to make the audience follow the narrative. The two types of characters thrillers often use are an antagonist and a protagonist. The antagonist would be one of the main characters in the film as thrillers use them to create suspense and tension within the audience as they are the villain and a threat to the other characters. Whereas the protagonists, known as the hero’s and victims, are the characters that unfortunately face the dangers of the antagonist and try to stop them or escape.
In my thriller opening sequence, I was inspired to use the same character representations as the ones in the film Scream 3. My antagonist was male, who wore dark clothing to blend with the dark setting and he wore a white mask, like the antagonist did in Scream so that he would not be identified by his victims. This would appeal to my audience as the use of him hiding his identity, intrigues them to find out why he does making them want to carry on watching the film to find out the conclusion of this. Firstly, the antagonist is represented as manipulative as he tricks the girl to thinking his hurt or something as he mysteriously lays in the middle of the road. The use of this manipulation shows that he's got a smart mind and knows how to trick his victims gaining the dominate status in the situation as his capable of this. Secondly, another representation of the antagonist is that his secretive performance of hiding his identity with a mask to his victims is intriguing and weird. This makes the audience suspicious on what his going to do next as you cannot tell what his feeling as his facial expressions cannot be seen through the mask. Additionally, the antagonist is represented as frightening as we see in my thriller, the two girls screaming twice both off screen, when they see him. This emphasis his powerfulness and his spookiness, as both times we hear the screams from the girls we don't know what his done to scare them. I included this so that it could Lead to the audience feeling apprehensive when they see him and also curious as they would want to know what his done.
One of the clear representations of the antagonist is that he is a male. I chose this as it was stereotypical to the thriller genre as well as to the gender because men are seen as stronger, and dominant due to a patriarchal society, implying that their more capable of doing such things due to power. This dominance is seen when the victim is in the forest trying to run away then, turns around to see the antagonist standing in her way; who is quite tall.
This character would appeal to the audience as his roughly the same age as them; target audience 15+, this makes them relate to the character more and feel afraid of him as his in their age and is capable of doing such horrible things. Reason why the antagonist in my thriller would appeal to them also, is because of his abnormality of laying in the middle of the road randomly. This intrigues the audience and draws them in as its unusual to see someone just randomly lay in the middle of the road for no reason.
In contrast, my thriller consisted of 2 protagonists who were victims of the antagonists dangerous motives, and they wore outgoing clothes to convey where they were coming from and what they're doing. A representation of one of the girls was her blonde hair. She was chosen because of the stereotypes of blonde girls being 'dumb' and vulnerable. In my thriller, she was portrayed as careless and gullible as she decides to approach the stranger on the road, even though she was in a drunken state. Also, my victims were represented as careless, as we see this when the two girls are at the bus stop and Josie decided that they should not wait for the bus and just walk home instead. This shows she's careless as they're clearly intoxicated and instead of waiting for public transport she wants to walk where theres hardly no one about. Another representation of the girls is that they're hormonal as Josie picks up her phone call and totally ignores her friend who is clearly upset about her ignoring her that she starts to walk away from her. The fact she didn't tell her to stop, shows her stubbornness and unawareness of the dangers that may happen if they were to split up even when their in a drunken state.
Gender is represented in a stereotypical way as the victims are females who are portrayed as naive, young, oblivious and innocent. These characteristics help make the thriller more realistic as the target audience can relate to what the girls are doing, as they're stereotyped to be these aspects.
The two female characters would appeal to my target audience as their young and similar to the audiences age (15+), so it's easy for them to relate to them. Furthermore, due to their innocence, vulnerability and age, this appeals to the audience as they know these aspects would interest the antagonist as the victims are usually like this in the thriller genre. Also, The contrast between the two is that the antagonist has his identity hidden which creates enigma and suspicion in the audience, however the girls are normally dressed in what people would wear in reality, this gives a sense of realism and makes the audience want to watch on as they can relate to her because of her clothing.
One of the clear representations of the antagonist is that he is a male. I chose this as it was stereotypical to the thriller genre as well as to the gender because men are seen as stronger, and dominant due to a patriarchal society, implying that their more capable of doing such things due to power. This dominance is seen when the victim is in the forest trying to run away then, turns around to see the antagonist standing in her way; who is quite tall.
This character would appeal to the audience as his roughly the same age as them; target audience 15+, this makes them relate to the character more and feel afraid of him as his in their age and is capable of doing such horrible things. Reason why the antagonist in my thriller would appeal to them also, is because of his abnormality of laying in the middle of the road randomly. This intrigues the audience and draws them in as its unusual to see someone just randomly lay in the middle of the road for no reason.
In contrast, my thriller consisted of 2 protagonists who were victims of the antagonists dangerous motives, and they wore outgoing clothes to convey where they were coming from and what they're doing. A representation of one of the girls was her blonde hair. She was chosen because of the stereotypes of blonde girls being 'dumb' and vulnerable. In my thriller, she was portrayed as careless and gullible as she decides to approach the stranger on the road, even though she was in a drunken state. Also, my victims were represented as careless, as we see this when the two girls are at the bus stop and Josie decided that they should not wait for the bus and just walk home instead. This shows she's careless as they're clearly intoxicated and instead of waiting for public transport she wants to walk where theres hardly no one about. Another representation of the girls is that they're hormonal as Josie picks up her phone call and totally ignores her friend who is clearly upset about her ignoring her that she starts to walk away from her. The fact she didn't tell her to stop, shows her stubbornness and unawareness of the dangers that may happen if they were to split up even when their in a drunken state.
Gender is represented in a stereotypical way as the victims are females who are portrayed as naive, young, oblivious and innocent. These characteristics help make the thriller more realistic as the target audience can relate to what the girls are doing, as they're stereotyped to be these aspects.
The two female characters would appeal to my target audience as their young and similar to the audiences age (15+), so it's easy for them to relate to them. Furthermore, due to their innocence, vulnerability and age, this appeals to the audience as they know these aspects would interest the antagonist as the victims are usually like this in the thriller genre. Also, The contrast between the two is that the antagonist has his identity hidden which creates enigma and suspicion in the audience, however the girls are normally dressed in what people would wear in reality, this gives a sense of realism and makes the audience want to watch on as they can relate to her because of her clothing.
Your analysis of question 2, demonstrates a basic understanding of how you chose to represent your characters towards an audience. You have focused on the narrative element well and have started to consider the gender roles that you have decided to present.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you need to ensure that you have also considered the age group of your audience and the ways in which they can build a relationship with the characters. You also need to focus on the mise-en-scene and how this was stereotypical to the characters and the audience. Finally be careful with the ways in which you have written about the protagonist!