Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are six groups of demographics, listed and detailed below:
 

· Group A – people in highly paid jobs, including politicians, bank and large business managers, doctors, lawyers, scientists and well-paid professionals.

· Group B – people who are still well paid, but not as well off as people in Group A, including teachers, middle managers and civil servants.

· Group C1 - includes junior managers, bank clerks, nurses and others in ‘white collar’ professions, who have a certain skill

· Group C2 – includes ‘blue collar’ and skilled trades, such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters & gas technicians

· Group D – people who complete manual work such as builders, drivers and post office sorters

· Group E – includes people who are on very low/no income, such as the young, the elderly and people who are unemployed

 

 

 

The killer in our production, James, could quite easily be compared to Jason Bourne, who starred in all three films in The Bourne Supremacy. James’s role in our production was to play the role of a typical villain – the killer. However, we wanted the killer to be portrayed as quite a calm and collected person – perhaps someone who is quite philosophical, doesn’t rush into things, and thinks long and hard about what something before he actually does it. For example, our group decided that after James had strapped Annabelle to the railway line, he would be the sort of character who would not run off from the scene, and instead who would walk off in a calm manor.

In a lot of the thrillers we have watched, males are usually considered to be the killers, as stereotypically, men are the gender who are considered to be powerful and strong. In addition, James is a young teenager, and men who are quite young, perhaps under 40, are the people who usually kill people.  

We wanted James to be wearing something that a typical killer would be seen in. We decided that he would wear a black balaclava, to ensure that his face would be hidden from his victim, creating an element of mystery.  In all of the films we have studied, the killers usually wear black clothing, which symbolises danger and death. In a similar way, mid and long shots were usually used to film this character, to try and hide his identity from the audience, which again, creates the element of mystery and unknown. However, when James revealed himself to our victim, a close up shot-reverse-shot was used to film this, as it allowed the audience to relate with the character, and also showed the emotion of both of the characters.

James used a gag to tie Annabelle’s mouth up with during filming. This was a significant prop, as it made Annabelle helpless and unable to move, which made her seem vulnerable, and allowed the audience to feel sympathy for her. Also, James used some rope to tie Annabelle down to the train track with, and this was a good prop for him to use, as many may associate a rope with being helpless and in danger.

Because of the budget our production was made on, we did not need to use make up or lighting for this character.

 

 

Our second main actor, Annabelle Potts, played the role of the victim in our production. We wanted someone to take this part on who could use good facial expressions, and who would look very innocent when waiting for the train to come. She could be likened to the woman was in the shower scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho film.

Typically in the films that we have watched, females are the victims, as they are usually seen as being a less dominant gender in society. Also, the age of Annabelle fitted in with our plot - it is entirely plausible that Annabelle and James could be cousins. Furthermore, Annabelle’s slim figure made it easy for James to lift her over his shoulder in some scenes!

 Annabelle was dressed as though she would be waiting on a train. We wanted her to dress in normal everyday clothing, so that the audience would relate to this character, as many members of the public would usually travel by train. Furthermore, we also asked Annabelle to wear a watch as a prop, so that she could be checking the time to see if her train was late. This made the scene appear more realistic. Annabelle was wearing make-up, again, to make her character seem more realistic, as though she may be travelling to go and see someone for the day.

 I feel that our media product equally represented many social groups. Both Men and Women were represented fairly equally, and although the film used younger actors, I feel that older people would not be offended when watching our production, as it would appeal to a wide range of age groups.