How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Jenna Diggory

Different social groups: Now days, many people find themselves falling into different social

groups. This is often done by the stereotypical aspects that the person and the social carry. Some well knows social groups are:

Chav – someone whom stereotypically walks around in track suits, listens to rap music and uses incorrect grammar in speech.

Goth/Emo – People whom stereotypically listen to heavy rock/metal music; commonly seen wearing black.

Social groups that are used in our film are: Males Females Police force and detectives Victims Hero Villain

Hero

Our Hero is a part of the police detective force of which is on the chase for a girl that has been convicted for many felonies. Due to the conventions needed to display the character as part of the police force, we had him dress in a long black trench coat, formal clothing and a gun. The character is shown with a soft side of which links back to a horrid family event, leading him to his actions. The character is to be shown without emotion due to the job he is enforced in and the past events he has experienced. Close ups are specifically used to show emotion that the character has. This helps the audience understand the character.

Both the characters are shown in a mid shot. They’re both clearly looking at something that the audience cannot see. This intrigues the audience into wanting to know what it so interesting to have their attention. Both the characters are following the codes and conventions of the thriller genre and the codes needed to display the character as their role; i.e. a detective. Both of the characters are located outside. The straight posture shows the audience a perspective of authority but the casual hands in pockets on the behalf of our character, shows that the character is very human and holds emotions.

The hero in our film is a detective. Detectives are highly used In the thriller genre because of the stories that can be built around these characters. Detectives are usually displayed as strong figures that have no emotion but in most plots, have s weak spot for something. I have decided to compare my detective with the detective from Face off (John Travolta/ Sean Archer). This character is conveyed as strong and determined but has a weak spot for his son that was innocently killed as a child. The character is dressed in formal clothing such as a suit and tie to demonstrate his position within the force and could imply he is quite wealthy. Close ups are used to show emotional detail that the character to convey the weakness the character holds/ We have tried to incorporate these aspects into our character so that our character fits his role.

Our hero: Walter Baines

Face off hero: Archer

Villain Our villain has his identity sealed because the identity is not a key part to

the storyline. This is also to raise questions about who the person is and why they went to the detectives house. Most Villains in the thriller genre are conveyed in dark colours to symbolise being ‘bad’ and sometimes have their fasces covered. This character follows both of these rules. The concealment of the characters identity is also a code and convection of the thriller genre. The character our villain has been based off of is Jon Doe from the film ‘Se7en’. This is because for a period of time in the film; the characters identity is sealed. We thought this might be a good representation of a thriller villain. Both of the characters hold this code and convection along with being conveyed as evil. In Se7en, the villain is shown doing disturbing acts (Slicing his finger with a razorblade), this is to convey to the audience what the character is capable of. Our character is shown holding a gun to a child's head and is conveyed to have killed the child. This is an act only someone who is evil would do.

Se7en’s villain: Jon Doe

Our villain: N/A

• Our villain is only seen in the beginning of the film so that the audience get a sense of the background of the character. This is shown in a flashback. The Villain is shown wearing all black to signify that he is bad and works within the shadows. His identity is sealed to follow the codes and conventions of the thriller genre and to leave the audience in question. The villain is shown in a number of shots. This shot is a close up. It shows the character but odes not show the face of the character. In the Se7en opening, features of the villain such as hands are shown but not the face.

Victims There are 2 victims in the film starting of which one is

yet to become a main character.

A little girl is shown in the beginning of the clip. This is the detectives daughter. Just like in modern day thrillers, she is to be conveyed as innocent and sweet. This pulls on the heart strings of the audience, leading them to make a emotional connection with the main character because he feels pain over the events that occurred. The use of the little girl is also used to convey how evil the villain is and the connection the emotionless detective had. The character is dressed innocently in her pyjamas, she is conveyed to be an angel and old never hurt anyone. She shows a loving compassion to her father of which is needed to strengthen the bond and strengthen the storyline.

We typically chose a child around the age of 5-6 because this is when the child would be conveyed as most venerable. She also has light hair for 2 reasons. One of the reasons was because she would match another actor we had of which would be needed to be a look alike for the rest of the storyline. The second underlining reason is to show purity. She is a fair coloured hair of which helps along with the childish and loving colours of pink that she is wearing. This is not seen because the flashback is in black and white.

This character was not based off of another film character but off the basis of what would be considered a young child that has strong bonds with her father.

Our other victim soon becomes a main character as the film continues. When she is first introduces, she is set as a unknown entity of which the audience have to add 2 clues together to find out who she is. This is done through the phone call from Walter to Felicity and the files shown in the office. This character is not seen as much in the opening as she would be in the rest of the film. Her character was chosen to represent an older version of the young girl seen in the flash back. ~Doing this, helps the audience to make a link between the two characters and understand why the main character is helping the girl.

As part of codes and conventions of a thriller film the use of photographs are used. This is specifically used to identify who the character is and give an indication as to her background. The matching up of the character and the photographs is easily done as they both look the same. The actor has light hair to also convey innocence and to match the little girl character but is seen wearing dark clothing to insinuate that she has a dark past.

Head of Police The head of police is to be conveyed as a hard

working man that is very dedicated to the case he is working on. He is first introduced when he is on the phone with Walter. The way that Walter responds to the head of police conveys the position in the law enforcement Walter is in. The Head of police is seen wearing a white shirt with a tie. He is designed to look as though he is very stressed and has let his look go; but is still dressed appropriately for his role. This character was influenced by Detective Quentin Lance from the TV show ‘Arrow’. Both of the character are seen dressed accordingly but in a more causal manor. The position that the character is in is shown in his body language as he paces to his work station and throws down his files. As he leans over the table, it shows the audience what he is looking at through an over the shoulder shot. The female character is introduced in this way. Both characters have a hard working trait towards their job and their families. The head of police in our film has no idea that the person he is on the phone with is working with whom they’re trying to catch. This shows trust that the one character has in the other, just as the character from arrow has trust in his team to find what they’re looking for.

Our head of police: Lieutenant Marshall Perkins

Arrow’s head of police: Quentin Lance