2. THE FAMILY
The family used in this thriller represent the ‘norm’ as they are a nuclear, aspirational
family in a middle class home. The mise en scene suggests they are aspirational
because they are in a large, modern lounge which is shown from the long wide
shot. The shot shows a large flat-screen TV and other paintings which emphasise
their middle class status, while even the dog sat on the sofa adds to the
connotations of the ‘ideal family’. This ‘ideal’ environment has been used
because when the disruption does occur it will seem all the more dramatic as the
audience might not expect such problems to happen to this type of successful
family. This film suggests these situations can happen to anybody and therefore
taps into the audiences’ fears.
3. GENDER REPRESENTATION
Sophie is walking on her own from school, showing she is isolated, lonely and vulnerable.
The female character is represented as being in need of protection which is stereotypical.
Females are traditionally portrayed as vulnerable victims in the media especially thrillers.
The characters in ‘Grounded’, are initially gender stereotyped as Nicole, the mother, is
expressing her emotions whereas Johnathan, the father, has a physical response rather
than an emotional one.
Modern audiences often dislike this gender stereotypical approach, therefore we have
played on this stereotype in order to trick the audience. The surprise is later discovered in
the movie, that Sophie is the Villain which is the role often occupied by the male. We have
therefore played with gender stereotypes in order to play with the audiences’ expectations
which is vital to a successful thriller.
4. THE PARENTS
Jonathan
This patriarchal nuclear family is representing the traditional family structure. In
the title sequence, Jonathan is willing to put himself at risk in order to try and
save his daughter. Jonathan has fulfilled the audiences expected masculine
response in this situation as he has left to look for Sophie. He shows physical
bravery in this situation.
5. THE PARENTS
Nicole
Nicole is represented as being a middle class traditional housewife, protecting and taking care of the
family and the household. She takes on the nurturing role in the family as she is with Francesca in
the family scene. Nicole responds to the news emotionally, which is juxtaposed with her husband,
Jonathan.
The overhead shot makes Nicole look vulnerable when walking up the stairs. This is a symbolic code
and is an indicator to the audience that she is about to realise something is wrong. You cannot see
her facial expressions from this angle however, this could have been a good shot to use if we had
not seen who she was beforehand. We wanted Nicole to look vulnerable on purpose as she has
lost her child and the camera angle emphasises this as It is an aerial shot
The Point Of View shot with Nicole searching in Sophie’s bedroom allows the audience to empathise
with victim. Furthermore, the point of view shot allows the audience to put themselves in the
characters shoes as it allows the audience to engage with the thriller. The audience are placed in
the victims role, which is typical of a thriller. The point of view is a key gratification of media
consumption as you see the identification of the character and makes it feel more real for the
audience.
6. THE MYSTERY CALLER
The audience is unable to identify who this character is, as his identity is still secretive. The
audience begin to realise in the audio codes from the phone call, that this character is the
antagonist. However the audience do not know the reason why he has taken her: was it
revenge from what Sophie has done to them in the past? This is a vital element that is
included in our thriller. The main reason why some people may want to continue watching the
film is to see who this person is, what their background is and what is the reasoning behind
the kidnap.
We have represented the whole family in the same class. It would have not been realistic if we
had varied the classes between the characters in the family as they are all part of the same
social group.
7. REPRESENTING CHARACTERS: GENDER
The opening title sequence to our thriller challenges the conventions of the genre to
an extent. We have chosen a female character that has been buried alive and
taken. This has challenged the genre as it is expected that the character that has
been buried would be a male rather than a vulnerable girl which was found out
from our thriller questionnaire.
The film 'Buried' used a male actor as the character that was buried. Males
stereotypically seen as having more of a physical presence in them than females.
and are arguably more physical in different types of situations. In their respective
films, this character is represented as the protagonist. The person that is buried
will first try and use their physical strength to get out of the situation, or they may
use their mental strength or knowledge to contact the right people to let him
escape. They may try to track their location or try and contact certain people that
might have more knowledge than himself
8. REPRESENTING CHARACTERS: AGE
As the film industry has a large history and has been running since the 1890’s, the
main plot to the story you may wish to produce is likely to have already been used
by someone else in the past. Bearing this in mind, I wanted to use the idea of a
kidnap storyline which has produced many successful movies in the past. I had
watched movies in the past where a vulnerable teenaged girl has been kidnapped
and I wanted to do further research of how producers decided to present this plot.
Having a younger character that has been taken will develop the emotional
connection between the character and the audience. In addition the audience's
connection with the character may grow as they will automatically want to put
themselves in the situation presented as if their child has been taken. The
audience's feedback all depends on their reaction.
