Tasha's Question 2 Answer

 

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?


A media product can represent various different social groups such as: 

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Sexuality
• Class & Status
• Disability & Ability
• Regional Identity

Our thriller opening has strongly represented some of these social groups such as; gender and disability. We have presented these in our media product through the use of camerawork, sound, mise en scene and editing.


Here is how we represented the social group of gender through these four different technical codes-

Camera:

At the very beginning of the thriller opening spectators are presented with a quick tracking shot of the female protagonist, Anna lying down against a tree in the woods. This shot then differs between a close up and medium close up of the subject, showing that she looks very confused and out of place. The female character portrays a sense of vulnerability and weakness as she expresses through the use of these shots that she is helpless.

Shortly after this there are a series of handheld tracking shots of the female running through the woods expressing how terrified and frantic she has become. This then leads to a medium two shot of both the female protagonist and the male antagonist in the kitchen of their house. During this shot it is made aware to the audience that the female character is in need of comfort and reassurance from her husband.  Suggesting that she is dependent on her husband to help her stop feeling so weak and vulnerable. This is then followed by a close up of her crying into her husband’s shoulder. The characters facial expression suggests that she is unable to control her emotions.

Alternatively, the representation of the male character; John is constructed in a different way compared to the representation of Anna. For example, during the opening sequence the spectators are presented with a medium shot of the male standing in a serious and bold position whilst looking out of the window. This shot then pans and converts to a tilt and zoom, focusing on a prop on the table. However, viewers are still able to see John walking out of the shot, as this is done the audience will notice how calm and collective John is. When in comparison to Anna, who is also shown in the same medium shot to be running frantically passed the window that John is looking out of. When considering the synopsis of the film, it is clear that John is the catalyst behind all of these events and that he knows why his wife is running. So for him to be so calm and collective over such a traumatic situation in comparison to his wife who is reacting in a frantic state, further expresses the differences between how each gender is portrayed in our thriller opening.


Mise En Scene:

In regards to the gender of Anna, it is clear that she is your typical girlie girl. This is constructed through her hair, make up and costume as it resembles the criteria of what a stereotypical feminine girl would look like. However, the fact that these three assets are shown to be ruined is obvious to viewers that she didn’t plan to look like that and the reason why she does is due to the action that’s taken place prior to this. Even though when planning the look and style of how the character of Anna would appear in the thriller opening, we knew that the audience would realise that this is not an obvious look of choice. As the fact that she is wearing pink and has pink hair helps pursue her character as a feminine girl who wouldn’t usually be looking really scruffy and messy. This is due to the fact that pink is associated to be a girl’s colour.

Another element of mise en scene that shows how we’ve portrayed gender in our opening is the setting. For example, at the beginning of the sequence Anna wakes up in the middle of the woods. It is obvious that she is out of her element as like I discussed before, she is a very girly girl who wouldn’t be the type to be associated with the woods. So by us choosing to shoot some of her scenes in this location it uses juxtaposition as the two things put together create an even level of contrast for the scene.

Gender is also constructed through certain areas in mise en scene like props, as both characters end up using one prop in particular but in very different ways. For instance, a knife is one of the things that both characters end up holding at different points during our opening. Anna is the first character to hold the knife and her reaction to it suggests that she is not used to holding a knife in this context. As when she wakes up in the opening scene it is clear from her facial expression and body language that her reaction is surprised and shocked to why she is holding a bloody knife in her hand. The manner in which she is holding the knife further suggest that she is scared of the object rather than taking control of it, this is suggested by the way that she holds the knife from a distance to her body.

Whereas in comparison to when John holds the knife in this medium close up, he appears to know how to handle it and is clearly not scared to use or hold it. During the scene in the kitchen when he picks up the knife it is suggested that using it is like a second nature to John, as he doesn’t seem sceptical or hesitant. When analysing this area further, I think it is clear that John is portrayed as the more confident character in terms of using the knife. As he is the one who ends up actually using the knife for murder.

Sound:
When looking at how we presented gender in terms of sound this is created in an obvious way through the use of on screen diegetic dialogue. For example, when Anna starts talking in the kitchen scene, her tone of voice is scared and panicked as she is obviously distressed and reacting to the situation in an emotional way. When in contrast John is very composed and serious as he responds “I know you didn’t do it”, whilst maintaining an expressionless facial expression. This alternate response suggests that as a man he is not as likely to reveal his emotions as openly as Anna is doing so.

Editing:
During both when Anna is first waking up and when she is having flashbacks the use of filters are edited in.

This creates the impression of her state of mind and how she is a victim of being drugged, further suggesting that she is the weaker sex in this plot. When looking in more detail at the overlapping editing used to create this montage of flashbacks, it makes it clear that John is the catalyst behind this aftermath. For example, one of the flashbacks shows him drugging a drink,

it has been made clear in the synopsis that he’d been drugging Anna for some time to cause her to have memory loss. By him drugging the drink it symbolises the start of all the chaos and that he is the one who has created this mayhem. Further signifying that he is the one that has the control and power over the whole situation.

I think that the medium two shot of both the characters in the kitchen scene is one that denotes a lot of symbolism and hidden meaning as I’ve analysed previously. The composition of the two characters in this shot summarises the way gender is represented in our thriller opening.

The male’s body language is very closed and serious whilst his facial expression is somewhat expressionless; giving off a sense od apathy. In contrast to the females body language reveals through non-verbal leakage that she is both terrified and in need of comfort; expressed through her head hung low and using her hands to cover her face showing that she is upset and wanting to compose this but failing to do so.

Summary:
Overall, I feel that the representation of gender in our thriller opening shows quite a contrast in terms of how their presented. Males are represented as more aggressive and very composed emotionally. Whereas, females are shown to be the weaker sex and lacking emotional stability.

Traditional stereotypes-

Obviously in our thriller opening the situations presented are very extreme and not your usual scenario. However, I feel that the representations are presented to be of traditional gender stereotypes; where the women has less authority and is more likely to be a victim. Whereas the man is the dominant one who is more masculine and controlling.  

Portrayed negatively-
I think that we portray each gender in a negative way, which is good in terms of fitting the conventions of a thriller genre. As this helps maintain the seriousness and captivation of a stereotypical thriller.
Using stereotypes-
We decided to use stereotypical gender roles as this fit best with our storyline and because we felt that by doing so it would attract a mass audience. Whereas if we were to go against gender stereotypes it would still attract an audience but mostly of a sub-culture of different norms and values, such as a niche audience. Which wouldn’t be as large as the audience we wanted to originally attract. This is due to the fact that there is a wide range number of people associated with mainstream stereotypes that all have similar values and interests. Whereas a niche audience are a sun-culture that have unique interests allows us to focus on alternative areas associated with gender.

Here is how we represented the social group of being disabled through these four different technical codes-

*The terms 'disabled' means a person who has a physical or mental condition that limits their movements, senses, or activities. I personally believe that having a disability means being less abled than others but not just mentally or physically.

In our thriller opening we focused on the area of having a mental disability. As having a mental disability can come under many areas. In this context the character of John is a psychopath who is very mentally unstable as he has killed a lot of people and tried to emotionally traumatize his wife. We also wanted to express the way his wife would be feeling mentally as well, as she has gone through a very traumatic event.

Camera/Editing:

We have constructed this through the use of using lots of point of view shots as this gives the audience an insight into what that character see's and their view of it.

We then developed this idea by editing filters and visual effects into the point of view shot to make them connote the way a certain character, in this case Anna, would be mentally feeling.

Mise En Scene:
I think the John's mental state is constructed well through the use of the actors body language and facial expression as he comes across a very cold and hostile. His persona is one that we wanted our audience to find intriguing and create enigma amongst them.

Sound:
The use of sound is also a very good well to help represent the mental state of both the characters as we were able to use a wide variations of sound techniques to develop and challenge this. For example, by creating a voice over of us whispering and then by using Final Cut Pro to add creepy ghost-like effects. It gave spectators a feeling of what was going on inside the female protagonists head as she is waking up. This combined with a blurred filter and flashbacks of a figure walking towards her helped create the effect of the audience being able to really feel like they are experiencing what they are seeing from her point of view. All of these elements put together helped us construct a mental state of the character that comes across as disorientated and delusional.