Evaluation Task 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

My thriller represents social groups through different elements of mise-en-scene. We represented the murderer by adhering to the stereotype of a professional hit man by putting him in suit for his costume. This also reflected his age as it is unlikely that a child or teen would wear a suit. By giving him these stereotypical murder features, it meant that the audience could immediately clock that he was a threat to the teenage boy, Gabriel. Gabriel wore typical teenage

clothes such as jeans and a jumper. This was the opposite costume to the killer, mike, so that the audience could see that they were playing opposite roles and Gabriel was the victim.

Throughout the shoot, we assured that mike kept a stern facial expression which made him look intimidating and professional. On the other hand, Gabriel had a nervous facial expression and breathed heavily. This revealed him to be the victim.

The thriller was shot in a car park in the middle of a forest. This represented danger as it the car was positioned so it looked as if it was completely isolated. In the car we placed Mike, the murderer behind the victim. This created a level of suspense, as Gabriel didn’t know what mike was planning on doing next.

The lighting was very much broad daylight. This was to represent mike as a fearless and intimidating man as he was willing to murder someone in the daylight at the risk of a pedestrian/cyclist seeing him commit this crime. People don’t expect murders to happen in the daytime, so this subverted stereotypes.

We used camera angles and movement in very interesting ways when introducing the murderer. Firstly we shot an establishing shot and then a close up of Gabriel looking tense. The fact that Gabriel was so nervous throughout the sequence, reveals him as younger more naive person and makes the audience sympathise. This told the audience there was something suspicious taking place. We then introduced the murderer mike in the rear view mirror of the car. This showed mike as a terrifying character as he was revealed in an unusual angle showing just his face looking very stern. This then revealed to the camera that he was the reason why Gabriel was so tense. We told mike to allow his facial hair to grow out so that it would be obvious who was of an older age, making his character more intimidating.

Another interesting shot was when we filmed Mike putting the silencer on the gun. We showed this in a close up to assure the audience wouldn’t miss this important moment. The fact that mike put on the silencer to assure that no one heard the gun shoot, shows he is a professional and also shows that he takes killing people very seriously. This represents in his stereotypical role of a hit man.

When mike finally shot Gabriel. We placed the camera on the ground so that Gabriel’s head would fall directly in front of it with a loud thump. This revealed a moment whereby Gabriel was the victim and his killer stood above him. By including mike by filming him at a low angle, it represented him as a dominant character whom the audience fears.

We edited the film in a way that mike was introduced a few moments after we revealed Gabriel look terrified. By revealing mikes character after it suggested that he is going to do something bad to Gabriel. We also included a lot of close ups to Gabriel’s face looking on edge so it revealed to the audience that he was the victim.

When our thriller began in the car park, we included typical surround sounds to set the scene, such as birds tweeting and trees blowing in the wind. This was to establish to the audience where they were and that it was a quiet day. When editing the gun shot and phone call we also included sound effects so that the thriller looked professional and it added a sense of realism.