Media...

1. Q2
HOW DOES YOUR FILM TITLE
AND OPENING SEQUENCE
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL
GROUPS?
By Nohail Mohammed

2. Within my opening sequence the main social group that is represented is those of male teenagers
from the ages of 16 to 19 but additionally the likes of accidental killers and a revenge/investigative
character.
The teenagers are represented through the clothing they wear (1), from their shoes (2) to their
jumpers (3) and jackets (4) it all represents the teenagers of today. The characters are all wearing
black pants whether they be joggers or jeans the colour black is worn by all characters as this is what
the majority of teenagers wear today. This allows for the teenage audience to have some sort of
connection with the characters. Additionally, the trainers all the characters are wearing are trainers
that are popular within the teenage/young adult fashion of today, the Adidas LA’s, Nike air max safari
and the Stefan janoski are all worn today. The camouflage jacket the main leader is wearing is a
perfect example of how the clothing can represent teenagers and link to the audience, camouflage
clothing is huge nowadays with most brands creating and replicated other brands with the pattern.
However, some colour is worn by one character with the use of light grey and blue. The use of the
blue coloured jacket goes against the stereotype of teenagers being dull, boring and lazy about life
whereas the colour blue adds to the fact the character is actually smart, cautious and wary about the
situation they’ve been put in, almost acting like an adult.

3. The lighting/ setting of the opening scene resembles the characters due to them being teenagers.
Teenagers nowadays are seen as lazy and dull, this is reflected from the lighting and setting as the
lighting isn’t too bright with it being natural lighting and the setting being in the woods providing a dull
feeling. Additionally, the moody dull lighting/setting is similar to the mood of the leader, being angry,
annoyed and frustrated (5). The lighting in a thriller or in this opening sequence should ideally be
darker; it decreases the chance of people seeing them. However, the lighting being bright and being
able to see everything shows the stereotype that all teenagers are reckless and think they know what
they’re doing is right.
The props being used in the opening scene consist of a shovel, bloody fingers and a ring to go with
them and a backpack (6). The props such as the shovel, bloody fingers and ring don’t have much
relevance to the teenagers or their stereotypes. The bloody fingers are more to do with the killers
social group as they’d chop the body up and bury them in different areas so they’re harder to find.
Furthermore, the use of backpack does link to the teenagers in the opening scene as most teenagers
nowadays wear backpacks and you could see them with a duffle bag which would be more suited to an
adult in this situation. The contents of the bag are the bloody fingers with the ring linking the two
social groups together. The use of diegetic language in the scene represent the teenagers due to the…

4. …ill-mannered words in the dialogue, a few swear words and bad actions are used in the opening
scene to express the anger increasing. This links to the stereotype that all teenagers are short
tempered and ill-mannered not caring about what they say showing signs of immaturity. With some
characters, in particular the ‘wimp/soft’ character played by Kenny Zhu the use of poor language can
be due to him being spooked. This also reflects on the stereotype that when teenagers get spooked
they tend to swear.
Within the opening scene, the camera angles used are predominantly the same level of height
allowing an eye-line match, this is to ensure the eyeline of each character is the same. Although some
of the characters are scared of the others and some are stronger than others physically they’re all in
the same situation, they’re all teenagers and they’re all the same age giving no character the ‘higher
stature’. The camera angle used by the killer/revenge-taker is mainly point-of-view due to them giving
the audience a feel for them. This also adds to the representation that killers/revenge-takers are
smooth and silent with their work, he’s mainly hiding from the three teenagers in the trees and bushes
to be an unseen antagonist but later on getting a glimpse of his face.

5. Body language in my opening scene is used to express what some teenagers are like, some of the
characters in the scene have slouched shoulders adding to the stereotype that they’re all lazy and
sluggish (7). However, some characters aren’t with their heads held up to show they’re physical and
mental more able to deal with the situation they’re in. The character with the head up and shoulders
back is portraying the leader with them getting slightly aggressive and angry with one of the other
characters, this is shown by physical aggression being placed upon another character.
The eye contact within the opening scene is limited with one character, the character that is the
cautious/cry-baby rarely makes eye contact with anyone because they’re scared showing the viewers
how some teenagers can be, however, when they do try get their point across they’re not afraid to try
and look them in the eye. Whereas, with the other two characters they’re mentally prepared for the
situation and are confident with what they’re doing meaning they look each character in the eyes.
These are true representations; however, some are challenged for example some of the characters
being confident with their heads high not fitting the ‘lazy, slouched’ teenager posture.

6. (1) (2)
(3 + 4) (5)

7. (6)
(7)