AS Evaluation Question 2

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

The first main character in my film is the female victim – Cara Gaffney.

Cara Gaffney is a young attractive female who enjoys going out and spending time with her boyfriend, shes very popular and represents a typical teenage girl. She is dressed in stereotypical female clothes and is the represents the teenage group. This character has been used in my thriller film as I believe she is the best way to emphasise vulnerability and make the antagonist look superior. I have also used her as she is a desirable character meaning that the people watching will want her to be saved and therefore feel more attached when she is in danger. Furthermore using this type of character makes it easier for my target audience to relate to her as they may be similar in certain aspects or they may know someone similar, this will make it seem more personal to the audience and also make it much more relatable.

The second main character in my film is the antagonist – Myself (Daniel Armstrong).

The antagonist is a strange masked man who stalks young females and kidnaps them. He is dressed in all black to represent the darkside that he has and he wears a mask to hide himself from his victims. He carries a knife which he uses to execute the victims once he has them hostage in his abandoned shed. This character represents the evil in my thriller and the mask he wears also represents the enigma. This character has been used in my opening sequence as a symbol of evil and to strike fear into the audience. Using this type of character makes it easier for the audience to imagine who they would expect the antagonist to be as he is wearing a mask and it is therefore left to the audiences imagination. The antagonist is also the main technique that I will be using in order to make the audience feel tense.

Gender within my characters has been used in a stereotypical way. The fact that the victim is female is important to the way in which they are portrayed to the audience. Making my victim a stereotypical teenage girl makes her seem much more vulnerable to the audience, therefore the audience want her to be saved. Making her a stereotypical female is also important as it makes her easier to relate to for the audience, this means the audience are able to put themselves in her situation and the sequence seems more realistic and terrifying.

I think that the characters used in my opening sequence are very appealing to the audience. The female victim (Cara Gaffney) is very attractive, this makes her seem appealing to the audience as she looks desirable, this further means that they would be tense when she is in any sort of danger. Making her a stereotypical teenager makes her furthermore appealing to the audience, this is because a relationship can be made between the character and the audience. The antagonist may also appeal to the audience, this is because he looks scary and the use of the mask allows the audience to recognise the antagonist. His scary appearance is appealing to the audience as they are watching the film to be scared, and the antagonist is the main way of doing this. As I previously said, putting the antagonist in a mask makes it easier for the audience to imagine who they would expect the antagonist to be. This makes him appealing to the audience as they can make it more personal to themselves.