The document summarizes the representation of social groups, particularly males and females, in the first three minutes of a film. For males, the characters are portrayed in stereotypical ways for the genre, with one male shown as dim-witted but also as capable leaders. Males are depicted as both violent when arguing but also able to remain calm. For females, one character follows the males' leads initially but also acts as a voice of reason. Both characters are treated similarly to males in filming without objectification. Other social groups like parents are not represented within the short timeframe but could be portrayed similarly to other works in later portions of the film.
2. Males
Right from the bat in our film, the character of Boris is represented as dim and is shown to be slowing the group
down as they run from an unknown threat. This goes against the stereotypical representation of men in these
(Sci fi/horror/thriller) type films, as the male characters are usually seen as the ones who are in charge and are
leading the group.
This is however also the case in ours as the character Jim can be seen as the one leading the group when
running. Also, as Boris is the last to arrive in the underground room, he is the one to close the gate which
ultimately protects the group meanwhile the female character, Nicola, is doing nothing.
Later on in the film, Jim and Boris get into an argument when Boris pulls a knife on Jim, portraying males as
violent and easily offended as all Jim did was disagree with his opinion. The two do make up however and things
go back to normal, showing men as able to be calm when need be which is, again, typical for these types of
films.
Two male characters, the news presenters, are also shown in high paying jobs later on, showing men in a
position of authority once again, which is typically done in other films of the genre such as Room or Prometheus.
Finally, at the end of the film, we see the dying body of Jim, which is the second time a character played by John
has been injured in the first 3 minutes alone, as the news broadcaster was also attacked. This paints men as
vulnerable, which is also present with Jim wrapping himself in a coat, showing how he is vulnerable to the cold
and easily hurt which, again, happens in lots of Sci Fi films like how in Alien, all of the male characters die.
Would these gender stereotypes be challenged in the rest of the film? Probably slightly, and if so it would most
likely have been a male character being taken care of by a female as that is not typical for these types of films.
Other than that, I don’t feel like this film needs to deviate too much from conventions as the main focus is on the
characters as people rather than what they reperesent.
3. Females
There aren’t many females to be represented in our film, just the two characters that Nicole plays.
The first character is Nicola. From the start, she isn’t given much of an identity as she just follows Jim when
running and entering the room. This could be seen as typical for her character, a woman, as in most Sci Fi/
Horror movies, women typically go along with what the male characters do and say.
Further on in the film though, when Boris and Jim are arguing, Nicola is the one to break up the fight and stop
further violence from occurring. This is also typical as women are often seen as the voice of reason in these types
of films, just like how Nicola is in this.
She is also the one who progresses the plot forward by bringing up the news broadcast which she saw, again,
bringing reason to the chaos.
She is quite silent throughout the film and rarely speaks compared to the other characters. This both is and isn’t
typical to the genres as it depends which films you watch. For instance, Alien features a strong leading female
role, whereas a film like The Exorcist does not and the main protagonists are male.
As for editing, Nicole is on screen for pretty much most of the shots that males are in, however, being more
male characters than female, she is not in exactly as much. This is again both typical and not typical as many
films are different depending on the cast.
No out of place angles or shots are made to objectify the women either, treating them like everyone else which
is not typical of most films of the genres as lots, even Alien, tend to exploit women's bodies in the way shots are
framed. However, our film features none of this as all characters are shot in a similar manor.
I’m fairly happy with the way that the characters Nicole play are portrayed as, for the most part, they are realistic
and not overly sexualized or anything.
4. Others
Many other social groups exist
and many of them are not
represented in our film. This is due
to it only being the first 3 minutes
and only focusing on a small
group of characters.
For example, parents are not
represented in our film but if they
were it would probably be similar
to Jim’s parents in 28 Days Later in
which they are just something the
characters remember and are
actually dead, being in the
apocalypse and all.
The characters ages are also not
defined in the film. This is because
we did not feel it was important
for this particular part of the story
yet, however later on in the film,
they may be.