The document discusses the filmmaker's choices in creating their thriller film. They chose to use a 19-year-old white female protagonist to appeal to a wide audience and follow thriller conventions. Locations like a dark garage and plain white house were used to create a creepy atmosphere and reflect the idea of people being controlled in society. Shots from the antagonist's point of view and a black and white filter in the basement were intended to make viewers relate to both characters and show the protagonist's vulnerability. Through these creative decisions, the filmmaker aimed to represent and comment on various social groups and influences in society.
How a film represents social groups through characters and themes
1. How does our media product represent particular social groups?
In my film I used two characters. The main protagonist in my film is 19 years of
age. I chose to use a 19 year old because its not too young and so connects with a
wider audience. I typically chose a young white female who is upper class, which
follows the typical conventions of thriller because middle class white families are
always vulnerable to danger. I use the ideology of a young girl being kidnapped
for ransom or pleasure to also follow typical conventions. Also the stereotypes, a
young girl being open and vulnerable to all sorts of danger and the fact that I
only use one male and one female follows the conventions of thrillers because
the male wants the female but the female doesn’t want the male. I tried to use
some aspects from ‘House At the End of The Street’, but this film isn’t a typical
thriller, but that’s why I tried to use it because I didn’t want to be mainstream
and follow all thriller conventions.
For mise en scene, I made my protagonist wear
the same clothes throughout the film. Her clothes
are shades colour that I tried to resemble as
hope, safety and innocence. The white scarf is
the centre of hope (and the shot) and the jacket
is red and so I felt it resembled pain or death (as
in blood). Then the black leggings, black,
resembling darkness or death; slowly creeping
around her. I wanted to show her innocence but
at the same time show the stains of darkness
within her personality. However the choice of
colours may confuse the viewers into thinking
she is ‘bad’. I did this in the opening because it can make viewers think about
what the story line will be about and intrigue them into to finding out if she is
evil or not.
I used my own house because my garage is very
dark and creates a very good setting for any
horror/ thriller film. It being filmed inside a
house associatedit with it with other thriller
films such as ‘The Strangers’. This film is set
inside a small house to give off a creepier effect. I
tried to show all the windows in my house to
follow the connotations of a thriller; as someone
is watching us, reflecting on society as we are
always being watched by our peers within
society.
For the time of the day I chose to film just before sun down to give off a
mysterious effect but I haven’t really followed a thriller theme as ‘Enemy of The
State’ starts at dawn, early in the morning representing society rising up like the
sun. I thought going against this is a good way of increasing the reality of the film.
Inside the house, the colours are very plain (white) because its her house; her
2. safe haven. I wanted the house to remind people of a boring creepy building such
as a hospital, suggesting more powerful people are keeping some people in
society under control. It also suggests she has no choice in what her walls may
look like because if they are white; maybe she is being forced to have them this
way, maybe by the council, reflecting on their rules. I have almost set up a false
narrative here because the viewers have no idea if this girl is good or and
because of her surroundings. I feel this is the best way of starting off a thriller
film because it lets the viewers build their own narrative before seeing mine.
This also reflects on society because people believe they can live their lives the
way they want to but there is always something changing the course. The houses
colour is also not dark because if they were they wouldn’t be very welcoming to
the outside.
In this shot it shows my protagonist inside the
basement, surrounded by darkness. I used a
black and white filter here to give off the effect
that she is trapped and is slowly being
swallowed by her surroundings. Possibly
reflecting on society because many social
groups try and use children as excuses for them
to do things. But the main reason was to show
the antagonists view of the situation because
traditional antagonist characters aren’t usually
shown in such detail. What I mean by this is
that when there is a killer for example, you never see it from his/ her point of
view but I went against this convention and used it. I feel it is a good way of
representing both characters in detail. The audience can relate to this because
they may feel that they are then portrayed as the antagonist due to the point of
view shots. We switch between the black and white shots within the film to
shows that he is getting closer with every second; it also shows her vulnerability.
The fact that she has no idea he is following her, which suggests that society is
damaged in the fact that you can watch anyone and become a part of peoples
lives too easily. The music underneath is now louder than before with an added
heavy breathing and heartbeat that shows her innocence and makes the viewers
want to help her. This represents social groups because people want to help
others such as Help For Heroes. I increased the volume to increase the build up
to her being grabbed by him. The viewers may feel that this situation could have
been help or caused by some social influences such as the help of the Police.
Every viewer was probably wondering where the Police were but this is typical
of a film because we want things to appear but they are always to late.
Overall I tried to add different sounds and effects that resemble today’s society
such as victim’s voices not being heard because of social influences such as
bullying or rape. Especially young people are being treated very badly in some
ethic backgrounds from which I tried to show in my film because some people
don’t know what its like to be in that kind of situation; this will then effect the
rest of my film because viewers try and find the solution to this pain.