How does your media product represent particular social
- 1. How does your media Product represent particular social groups? Evaluation Task 2
- 2. Presentation of the Victim: (Social group= Age and class) • In our thriller opening it is easy to distinguish that the victim is a white male, although it is not obvious to the audience you could convey by his watch a that he is middle class , and by his hands that he is a middle age man. • However, that is a presumption that we later find out to be true as you see his house throughout the following shots that play out throughout our opening; the house is established as clean , well decorated. Not only this but you see the man’s face in the mid shot of his family in the photo frame; which confirms him to be a middle age man with a wife and children. • As a result of the presentation of the house and watch and photo which establishes him to be from a middle class family; it subverts the stereotypical victim of a killer by using an older man instead of a young white woman (as they can be made to appear more vulnerable). • The use of a middle age/ class white man as a victim; makes the perpetrator appear more calculated and vindictive, this could give the audience the impression that there was a reason behind his murder. In stead of power or sexual desire which would seem more apparent if the victim was a woman.
- 3. Presentation of the protagonist: (Social group= Age and Class) • The woman is established in the opening of our thriller as the protagonist; she subverts the usual stereotypes due to the fact that in stereotypical thriller films she would have been presented as the victim of the middle class, middle age white man. ( would have been the one to be murdered) • This makes a contrasting affect in our opening as it is as if roles have been reversed. It causes a power shift; and we see the young woman distraught at the death of her father. • We chose Hannah to play the protagonist as she is a young woman, who is young enough to be the daughter of a 40-50 year old man , as well as this her aspiration to be an actress meant that we could get a convincing performance which entails her being devastated and in a state of grief after finding out her father had been murdered. • She is presented in a clean white shirt , black skirt and a long gold necklace; her face is made up and her bright red lip colour can link to the blood seen on her father’s arm and hand in the establishing shot. • The way she looks is vital in our presentation of her character as it further confirms her middle class status , and she looks clean and professional and can be seen in the closing shots as getting ready to go to work.
- 4. Similarities: (To the Protagonist) • Age (the age they play) • Long hair • Both have lost a parent • Both have a polished image • Well presented (working class/middle class background) Differences: (To the Protagonist) • Natural and less obvious makeup. • Blonde wavy hair • Paler complexion • Casual clothing • Looses her mum not her dad Similarities: (To the victim) • Middle age • Bearded • Large stocky build • Manly hands Differences: (To the victim) • Different social class (appears to be working class) • He is the parent who survives instead of being killed • Raises his daughter alone Fathers and Daughters(2015) Muccino
- 5. • Her social group is filtered in through age and her age is representative of 16-19 year olds, initially our group planned to make Hannah the Girlfriend/wife/love interest of the victim representing a 25-30 year old . However we believed that because we wanted the man’s hand to appear very manly (this is why we used her father’s hand) it would suit more for her to play the daughter instead as the age ranges matched more. • As a result of using someone younger , it would make it more relatable to teenagers and adults between 16-25 as well as it still being well received by older age ranges. • There is not many films where a daughter struggles with the loss of their fathers; however it could be compared to the Film’s ‘Fathers & Daughters’ and ‘A father’s choice’ which shows young girls loosing their mothers and dealing with the loss of a parent. • Our Thriller opening challenges the representation of social groups , as woman are not presented as victims but rather as the survivors.
- 6. Representation of The middle class: • Overall our representation of the middle class family we portray in our thriller opening is conformist of a stereotypical middle class family. • This is evident through the shots of the house , and the fact they own the house. Although we don’t see we can presume through the presentation of the house and the protagonist that they own a car which stabilizes their middle class status. • Which by the way it is presented , appears to be in a suburban area. • It is further established through the fact that the protagonist is presented in smart dress, in which we can convey she is well educated and has a white collar job or is furthering her education. • However , we subvert stereotypes by using a middle class family being the victims of such an event. • It is usually represented in a working class family , and often the victims are presented as being vulnerable females or from different ethnicities E.g. a young black boy.
- 7. How it was applied: • We achieved the representation of particular social groups through: • Mise-en-scene: • Costumes: • What the protagonist wears: White shirt, black skirt , jewelry, handbag , jacket. Conventional for someone her age working a white collar job or someone in further education at a sixth form. • The victim: Wears a nice watch on his wrist, has money to spend on luxury items. • Location: • The house , shows what they own and how they present themselves , in the way they keep their house tidy and well decorated. • Camera Angles , shots and Movement: • The establishing shot of the victim’s hand covers in blood, although we do not see his face we can already build on what social group he represents. • which is highlighted further when you see the mid shot of his family in the photo frame.
- 8. • Sound: • Diegetic sound: (The sound that the audience and the characters hear) • We kept our diegetic sound in the part where Hannah is crying as it emphasizes the pain she is feeling. • As well as this, we included it when she says ‘bye dad, love you’ as we thought it put vital emphasis on the relationship between the two characters. • Non Diegetic sound: (The sound only the audience hears) • We created the music to play throughout the whole of our sequence in order to set an eerie and sinister tone conventional to physiological thrillers. Overall, without the music our Opening would not have the same effect we were looking for. • Dialogue: • As a group we came to the decision to have minimal dialogue as we believe it made the whole sequence appear more sinister , and the viewer would appear more gripped and would be eager to continue watching. • Finally, the lack of dialogue puts strong emphasis on what the protagonist says when she leaves at the end ; in which lets the words linger in the audience heads.