The document summarizes how a media opening sequence portrays social groups through its characters. The sequence involves a 17-year-old blonde girl named Emily who is kidnapped by an older male antagonist. It compares this portrayal to other films and real cases. Stereotypes of age, gender, disability and social class are represented through characteristics of the characters and their interactions. Shots are framed to depict the male as powerful and the female as vulnerable. The sequence aims to draw on audience expectations of common stereotypes in thriller films.

1. HOW I REPRESENTED
SOCIAL GROUPS IN MY
MEDIA PRODUCTS-
OLIVIA STUTMAN

2. COMPARISON OF CHARACTERS IN MY FILM TO OTHER FILMS IN
AGE
Female teenagers are commonly portrayed as innocent and vulnerable in thrillers. In particular, a lot more when playing the role of a
victim (like our character). Women are negatively represented within age, as they are portrayed to be weaker than men. This is a
perfect description of our actress who is a young girl with these descriptions, which is portrayed in our film. The character I used in my
opening sequence for my thriller (Emily) is 17 years old. Emily does indeed reflect these qualities throughout the sequence, exhibiting
her fear of the antagonist. We used high angles shots to present her when she was trapped in the kidnappers lair with the mysterious
kidnapper, portraying her as weak, vulnerable and of less power than the kidnapper. Our character is represented as a typical female
character in a thriller, similarly Drew Barrymore who plays the lead role in the film ‘Scream' where the girl constantly answers the
phone to someone who is clearly trying to delay her through his wisdom of manipulation and exploitation of the young, this buys the
man on the end of the phone time to do as he planned to the girl.
During our thriller, Emily is shown to the audience as innocent and vulnerable through her facial expressions and emotions, displaying
her fear and shock when experiencing the trauma of being locked in a room and tied up, as well as being battered and bruised. This
allows the audience to connect and sympathise with her, which is exactly what we had wanted in order to draw the audience in. We
chose to implement our representation of our character as we have done, to depict her a typical victim in a thriller. Within my thriller,
there is a clear difference between the ages as there are only 3 actors present (2 main actors). One of which is a young teenage girl
(the victim) the other is a older- middle aged man (the kidnapper). Age is shown evidently through the use of power, the kidnapper
holds power of the victim, this is very stereotypical in terms of age inequality, as in usual society whoever is older usually has more
control over someone who is younger than them. Thus, this is a negative representation of middle aged men/adults as it shows them
as short tempered and irritable. An example of where the older character is seen as more powerful and more in control is the film “The
Human Centipede”. This is because the older middle aged man invites girls inside his house in order to perform cruel things on
teenage girls.

3. COMPARISON OF CHARACTERS IN MY FILM TO OTHER FILMS IN
DISABILITY
Although none of the main characters in my thriller suffer from any physical or noticeable disability, it can be inferred that the villain
and kidnapper may have some form of mental disability. This can be seen as he shows no remorse for his actions as he carries on to
stalk Emily on a daily basis. Furthermore, this is presented by him pinning up pictures of young teenagers onto a pin board. As well as
showing him stalking a teenage girl from a distance consecutively in his car. This portrays a cannabalistic feature which connotes a lot
of violence and anger, showing that the antagonist is clearly not mentally stable. Mental health is a huge problem in everyday life. It is
evident to see the kidnapper has some sort of mental instability which can be difficult for the audience to recall. This clearly shows that
more attention needs to be focused on mental health, and our thriller can clearly show how much of an issue it is in todays society.
This can be reflected in the representation of a character from the TV show "Prison Break” a man call T bag who acted as a nasty,
spiteful character with no remorse, however, when stuck in a tight position, he would act weak and helpless, at one point resorting to
biting his own hand off, showing his mental disability which can relate to the kidnapper as he feels no remorse. but would act
vulnerable if caught. Additionally, this representation of disability is similar to Die Hard 3 In this thriller, the protagonist is caught in a
deadly game of with a villain who similarly to ours, has a mental health problem, and it is this that influences him to do what he does.
In our thriller, the mentally ill kidnapper is depicted as being powerful and strong in comparison to the abled victim. This is the opposite
to our audiences expectations as they would usually classify a disabled person as being weak, helpless and always dependent on an
abled character. This is similar to TV programmes like ‘Breaking Bad’. This is the opposite in our thriller as our disabled (mentally ill)
character is always in control throughout the whole sequence, whereas the abled victim is portrayed as hopeless and undependable.

4. COMPARISON OF CHARACTERS IN MY FILM TO OTHER FILMS IN
GENDER
We portrayed our female character as being 'victimised' in our thriller ‘The Captive'. The antagonist is a male, which is indicated by the
deep voice and his all black image. Typically in thrillers the males hold superiority over the females who appear weak and vulnerable.
This occurs in our thriller opening also. It is achieved by the various camera shots, angles and movements and mis-en-scene between
the two characters. Males are often connoted as dominant over the female, with the female showing fear and vulnerability. Our male
antagonist is dressed in all black and seems to be almost obsessive towards Emily with the constant stalking in his car from roads, to
pinning her photos up on a pin- board. As a young teenager, Emily is represented with purity and innocence. Our thriller presents the
typical stereotype of men being in control of woman, this is stereotypical and thus fulfils the audiences expectations. The ideology of
thrillers in this film is extremely common and has been represented in the media since the very start of intentions of thriller films. My
thriller presents the stereotypical ideology of men being superior to women through having a male killer in a powerful position and a
female victim in a weak position. This confirms the audience's expectation as they expect the man to have power over the woman. An
example of this is the film “Taken” which is extremely similar to my opening sequence. It is about a vulnerable week teenager who gets
kid-napped by an older and more powerful man. Another example of a film similar is “Gone Girl this is similar to my thriller as it is
about a husband and wife who have a normal life, until one day when his wife disappears. The reason we chose Emily was because
of stereotypes of the age surrounding women. We portrayed our characters age through specific camera shots such as close ups to
indicate to the audience that she was powerless. This enhances the idea that women are weak in the eyes of the media. In terms of
the mise on scene in our thriller, age was represented as woman being ‘dumb’ and oblivious, this was shown by Emily getting into the
kidnappers car, knowing it wouldn't end nicely. This is a typical stereotype of young adults which is juxtaposed as men are therefore
shown as smart and powerful
I used specific camera shots such as close ups of our actresses face to show fear and vulnerability, which is a conformation of women
stereotypes. There have been many recent cases about the danger of Uber drivers and how they're un-safe. Although there have
some iconic strong female characters occurred in the past years -, Hermione Granger, Lara Croft and most current and importantly
Katniss Everdeen have all experienced moments were they get physically defeated by men. Furthermore, almost all of them have a
male supporter, who helps them in dangerous situations.

5. COMPARISON OF CHARACTERS IN MY FILM TO OTHER FILMS IN
SOCIAL CLASS
Class is represented in our thriller through the use of technologies by our three main characters. The victim, the kidnapper and
the victims father. We can see that both the victim and her father use modern up to date phones, showing their class as
they're clearly part of a middle class family within a well paid job and comfortable financially. Allowing them to both obtain a up
to date popular phone. Additionally, the kidnapper has a up to date and highly regraded branded car, this shows that he is
also middle class as he can afford luxuries like a BMW. There is no contrast between class in our opening sequence for our
thriller as all characters are middle class, none being higher than another. Additionally, class can be seen in the contrast
between the differences in dialect that the two main characters use in their conversation. We can see this in the linguistic
features of the victim and her father who are both well spoken. This contrasts to the kidnapper who is short tempered and
violent within his tone. However, the way the kidnapper is dressed, challenges the stereotype that the middle class are well
presented, clean and tidy – likewise, the narrative is supportive of the stereotype as the protagonist has been through a lot
according to the storyline, therefore relating to the costume. An example of a film where class is clearly represented through
the use of technology is ‘Mean Girls’, this film uses up to date modern cars, like ours, showing evidently their class and how
money is used and spent within different classes.

6. DEMONSTRATION OF BINARY OPPOSITION IN CHARACTER TYPES
IN
DUMB BLONDE AND FIRST GIRL
The main social group we will be representing in our media is vulnerable ’dumb’ blonde females. Blonde hair is a typical
stereotype for a victim depicted often in TV shows and films. The blonde hair often portrays someone who is a 'dumb blonde'
and is not aware of their surroundings although there is no scientific evidence that blonde hair makes one any less intelligent
than any other hair colour. An example of this is Paris Hilton who has been in the media often for acting stupid and releasing a
sex tape exhibiting a prime example of a 'dumb blonde'. Another blonde who has been criticised on a daily is Christina
Aguilera who made a ‘dumb’ re-mark about where the Cannes Film Festival will be. We took advantage of this in our media
sequence to allow the audience to easily link the blond female to someone who will eventually led to a sense of trouble,
foreshadowing something bad to occur from the start, much like 'Scream' which is the film we used as our inspiration to create
ours. The main character in Scream who receives mysterious calls is a blonde female also portrayed as a victim unsure of
whats going on around her. We made sure Emily was blonde to play on the stereotypical 'blonde dumb' female, except our
character isn't exactly stupid, she’s just highly oblivious to her whereabouts, especially when acting unaware of speaking to
and getting inside a kidnappers car. This is Drew Barrymore who plays the blonde female victim in 'Scream'.

7. DEMONSTRATION OF BINARY OPPOSITION IN CHARACTER TYPES
IN
MEN VS WOMAN/WEAK VS STRONG
On average, general statistics show that more men commit crimes against women compared to women committing crimes against men.
This proves authority and male dominance in society today. In my opening sequence the audience will see the how the male character
(the kidnapper) is able to control and manipulate the female (the victim) through authority and power. Whilst in a isolated location, the man physically
torments the woman, without the woman being able to control the man and this shows how stereotypically, men hold power and authority over the
opposing sex. We showed binary opposition through social hierarchy. We did this by using specific camera shots in order to portray the male
character as powerful and dominant. The shots we chose were low angle shots and eye level shots. An eye level angle shows the object of the picture
looking directly at you, this shows the same amount of power as you. A low angle shot is a shot which demonstrates power, showing how the
character is in control of the situation and therefore has dominance. An example of a film that contains low angle shots to portray power is ‘Star Wars
Episode 4’ where Darth Vader is in control of a situation (the Galactic Empire). Contrasty, we used high angled shots and might close up shots in
order to convey weakness and vulnerability towards our female character (the victim). High angled shots show weakness of a character as the
audience is seen to be looking down upon them. A medium close up shot is a shot between a close up and a long shot. The shot is usually showing
the characters body from waist up, we used this shot in order to highlight the misery and fragility of our female character. Thus, the differences in shot
types between the two main characters evidently demonstrate the binary opposition between male and females within my opening sequence.

8. DEMONSTRATION OF BINARY OPPOSITION IN CHARACTER TYPES
IN
GOOD VS BAD
Within my opening sequence, the main female character/victim (Emily) is constantly seen as the ‘good’ character throughout and has
always been targeted. Emily has always been a negative aim for the villain in my opening sequence, the kidnapper. The kidnapped is
connoted as the ‘bad’ character. This is shown through many ways, one evident way that binary opposition shows ‘good vs bad’ is
both the characters appearance. Emily (the good character) is shown by wearing light coloured clothing and having blonde hair, these
both demonstrate innocence and purity, as well as vulnerability. The kidnapper (the bad character) is shown by wearing black/dark
clothing without his whole face visually seen, highlighting his mystery and thus hiding his identity. This portrays how he is dangerous
and unstable to be around, clearly signifying the two differences between the characters. An example of a film that shows binary
opposition through the use of appearance when demonstrating good vs bad is ‘Harry Potter’ where Harry is seen as the ‘good’ guy
and is consistently targeted by Voldemort who is the ‘bad’ guy throughout the film. The image shown below is very effective as it
expresses the binary opposition between the two characters clearly to the audience. Highlighting the difference in appearance
between the two characters and their facial expressions.

9. NEWS ARTICLES/REAL LIFE INCIDENTS COMPARABLE TO MY OPENING
SEQUENCE
Alice Gross was a school girl who got kidnapped by an older man, the disappearance of Alice Gross became a murder inquiry after her body
was found in a west London river.Police and other detectives are unaware of certain significant details but are willingly convinced that the
schoolgirl stopped for this strange looking gentleman when he asked her a question on a bridge, leaving her little room for escape. Insinuating
that this led to her death. Alice's family make an appeal for her to get in touch with them, saying they "desperately miss her”. This is
comparable to my opening sequence as our victim Emily is a blonde schoolgirl who gets kidnapped when roaming the streets. This represents
the gender and age aspect within our opening sequence.In addition to this, Alice’s family are extremely worried and over-protective, as any
stereotypical family would be, likewise my opening sequence consists of a scene of our victims father and how he is desperate to hear from his
daughter and the situation. Thus, representing age, gender and disability.
Elizabeth Smart is a woman who, at the age of fourteen, was abducted from her bedroom by two men in their middle ages. Elizabeth was found
by police and rescued 9 months later about 18 miles from her home. The police and detectives managed to find both defendants and were able
to competent them to stand trial to serve a life sentence for their crimes. The abduction of Elizabeth and her rescue were widely reported and
were the subject of a made for television movie and a published book. This is relatable to my opening sequence because Emily (our victim) is
similar looking to Elizabeth Smart, this is because she has blonde hair which meets the vulnerable stereotype and is young like Emily.
Additionally, she was abducted by elder men, who, like our character (kidnapper) is also within his middle age, not only this, the abductor like
the one in our opening sequence shows he has some kind of mental illness. This can affect people and make them do dangerous/bad things.
This therefore represents disability, age and gender.
Lastly, Madeline Mccann was abducted in 2007 when she was only three years old, she is a blonde girl who has been deeply targeted within
social media for years ever since her abduction. Madeline was heard to be taken when her parents left her and her siblings to sleep, whilst her
parents enjoyed a dinner in a restaurant nearby, leaving the door open. There has still been no evidence 10 years later as to how she got
abducted and what really happened to her . She is much younger than our character but still a targeted victim who has been taken from her
caring family. This is similar to my opening sequence as Madeline’s family are in constant contact with the police, in order to battle this case
and find their daughter. This is comparable to my opening sequence as, likewise, our victim’s (Emily) parents are in contact with the police in
order to get to the bottom of the case. Additionally, our victim is blonde which highlights a further similarity between the two portraying how both
victims are extremely vulnerable. Giving men a negative representation. Both my opening sequence and the story about Madeline tell an un-
solved mystery with constant speculation and ideas as to what really happened. This therefore, represents the stereotypical ‘first girl’
speculation, age and gender.
Alice Gross Elizabeth Smart Madeline Mccann