My answer to question 2 of my AS media evaluation

1. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

2. Tracy Mills, Se7en The representations of social groups we planned to communicate through our thriller were mainly the stereotypical ones usually represented in the thriller genre. http://stephenonstuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/inexplicable-movie-review-se7en.html Roger Ferris, Body of Lies http://justjared.buzznet.com/photo-gallery/1350891/leonardo-dicaprio-body-of-lies-01/ Fishermen, Jaws http://barelyawakeinfrogpajamas.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/jaws-2-the-three-amigos/ Chrissie, Jaws http://jaws.wikia.com/wiki/Christine_'Chrissie'_Watkins

3. We chose a female teenager as the ‘victim’ for our thriller as this would carry connotations of youth and vulnerability, which is often what film makers aim for. We did however try to represent our ‘victim’ as stronger than she would usually be portrayed, as she seems vulnerable rather than helpless; she tries to escape the room she is trapped in, although in many thrillers she would most likely have been more passive (such as Tracy Mills in Se7en) than she is. We decided to represent her in this way to move slightly away from the stereotype audiences expect from females in a thriller, similar to the way in which Starling is represented in The Silence of the Lambs. Clarice Starling, The Silence of the Lambs http://www.allmoviephoto.com/takeoverAd.html?http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/jodie_foster_the_silence_of_the_lambs_001.html

4. Similarly, men in the thriller genre are often portrayed as strong, which plays to the traditional male stereotypes in society. We decided to use this stereotype when deciding on the character of our ‘hero’, so we tried to do this by having him try to find his missing daughter, as we can imagine might happen in reality. Cobbs, Inception http://screenrant.com/four-new-inception-images-christopher-nolan-ross-55528/inception-image-leonardo-dicaprio-with-gun/

5. Our film reinforces the stereotypes that are used in the thriller genre. About teenagers or females, it is most likely that our film suggests a weakness or vulnerability, which although is not a representative of teenagers and females in reality, does conform to the typical stereotype used in the thriller genre. Barbara Morten, Strangers on a Train http://notedelhotel.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html Similarly, our thriller suggests that men are strong as opposed to women, although this again may not be a true representation of men in society. Norman Bates, Psycho http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bates

6. http://www.moviesnobs.net/scream-4-really/ When choosing actors for our thriller we needed to choose actors who would fit the representations we were trying to portray; we therefore chose a teenage girl to play the role of Lucy, who we thought fit the role. Casey Becker, Scream We tried to play on the ‘innocent’ stereotype by choosing a girl who was blonde and who wasn’t as tall etc as others which would suggest a kind of vulnerability about her, tying in with the typical representation of females in the thriller genre. Female victim, Psycho http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/they-made-the-critics-scream-but-now-these-films-are-classics-2003140.html

7. For the role of Kyle Baldwin, we chose an adult of about 40 years old as we wanted to convey the idea that the connection between the two was that between father and daughter. We also wanted to portray a sense of him being a strong personality who would not simply give up when faced with ‘dead-ends’ in the plot, which I believe we managed to show. Similarly, for the role of the killer, Matthew Drake, we wanted to conform to the stereotypes of men in the thriller genre by projecting a image that he was strong, but at the same time trying to contrast him with the role of Kyle Baldwin.