Evaluation

Evaluation

• 1.
  How does yourmedia product represent particular social groups?
• 2.
  Stereotypes When talking aboutstereotypes, my thriller could go under the label of a stereotypical thriller film because of certain aspects. For example… As a group we decided to use a stereotypical viewpoint of where typical thrillers are set.. the woods. We filmed the majority of the thriller in a log cabin, which was actually in someone's garden but we made it look like it was set in the woods. A lot of thrillers I have watched in the past base at least some of its filming in the woods. This is because it automatically creates that eerie, mysterious feeling you need in a thriller. A stereotype we didn’t follow, was the typical antagonist and protagonist. Frequently in thrillers the victims (protagonists) are females, usually of a younger age so that they appear vulnerable. For example in the film ‘Psycho’ the victim is a female in her early 20’s and she is in the shower when she is attacked and this makes her appear more defenceless and weak. Also, the protagonist is most likely a mysterious male who is shown very little, for example, in the film ‘Scream’. However, in my thriller the protagonist is a male, although he is very tall which can sometimes make the character look dominant and intimidating, our male victim is very exposed and helpless which goes against most thrillers. As well as this, the antagonist is a female. The face of the killer is kept a mystery and hidden with her hood covering her face the majority of the time she is shown but she is in front of the camera a lot more often then usual thrillers which try to keep the antagonist hidden as much as possible.
• 3.
  Social Groups Although somethrillers try to incorporate a range of different social groups i.e. families, adults, over 65’s etc, my thriller focuses on one main group, teenagers. Some thrillers also do this and focus on one social group in particular, for example, Scream and Final Destination where the main characters are teenagers. Age - Teenagers who are emotionally unstable are involved in many thrillers; these characters appeal to a wide audience, as people can relate to the issues the characters are going through, even those who are older because they can relate back to when they were younger – in this case, my thriller represents the dangers of being independent without being cautious. However, if the main focus was on adults, younger audiences wouldn’t be able to relate. So, in our thriller we chose to have all teenagers for all the characters to ensure we can appeal to a large age range; linking to ‘Uses and Gratifications theory’ – allowing audiences to gain their needs through escapism and allowing them to relate it to their own lives. Gender – my thriller represents both females and males, although the females massively outnumber the one male involved. We go against the stereotype that women become easily emotionally unstable rather than men and by doing this we initially target a primary audience for females however, it may also appeal to men once views and opinions are spread by word or mouth or through the media. (The two step flow theory included ‘opinion leaders’ which influence other social groups and in this case, the opposite sex).
• 4.
  British Identity As mythriller is filmed in the UK, the characters and locations do represent UK citizens and area. All of the characters are aged 16 or 17 (but are made to be seen as 17/18 in the actual thriller) and the locations include a few shots of fields and the woods and then the majority of it is filmed in and around a cabin and because of these aspects, it may cause viewers from outside the UK to question the represented category. The characters in my film are seen to be drinking alcohol and in America and other countries this is not legal until you’re 21 which is one aspect which hints that it is a British film however, we also wanted to make the characters appear rebellious so some of the characters are under aged and shouldn’t be drinking but this is a common problem which happens in the UK and we wanted to show a true representation of a stereotypical group of friends. The characters in the film are slightly rebellious as they’re drinking in the middle of the woods however, they are also respectful and show courage throughout the film because although we wanted to show a true representation of teenagers, we didn’t want to make a stereotypical view of all teenagers being, cheap, rude streetwalkers because they’re not.