Thriller opening evaluation - Question 2

1. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

2. Stereotypes
When talking about stereotypes, my
thriller could go under the label of a
stereotypical thriller film because of
certain aspects. For example…
As a group we decided to use a
stereotypical viewpoint of where
typical thrillers are set.. the woods.
We filmed the majority of the
thriller in a log cabin, which was
actually in someone's garden but we
made it look like it was set in the
woods. A lot of thrillers I have
watched in the past base at least
some of its filming in the woods.
This is because it automatically
creates that eerie, mysterious
feeling you need in a thriller.
A stereotype we didn’t follow, was
the typical antagonist and
protagonist. Frequently in thrillers
the victims (protagonists) are
females, usually of a younger age
so that they appear vulnerable. For
example in the film ‘Psycho’ the
victim is a female in her early 20’s
and she is in the shower when she
is attacked and this makes her
appear more defenceless and
weak. Also, the protagonist is most
likely a mysterious male who is
shown very little, for example, in
the film ‘Scream’.
However, in my thriller the
protagonist is a male, although
he is very tall which can
sometimes make the character
look dominant and intimidating,
our male victim is very exposed
and helpless which goes against
most thrillers. As well as this,
the antagonist is a female. The
face of the killer is kept a
mystery and hidden with her
hood covering her face the
majority of the time she is
shown but she is in front of the
camera a lot more often then
usual thrillers which try to keep
the antagonist hidden as much
as possible.

3. Social Groups
Although some thrillers try to
incorporate a range of different
social groups i.e. families, adults,
over 65’s etc, my thriller focuses on
one main group, teenagers.
Some thrillers also do this and
focus on one social group in
particular, for example, Scream and
Final Destination where the main
characters are teenagers.
Age - Teenagers who are emotionally unstable are involved in many thrillers;
these characters appeal to a wide audience, as people can relate to the issues the
characters are going through, even those who are older because they can relate
back to when they were younger – in this case, my thriller represents the dangers
of being independent without being cautious. However, if the main focus was on
adults, younger audiences wouldn’t be able to relate. So, in our thriller we chose
to have all teenagers for all the characters to ensure we can appeal to a large age
range; linking to ‘Uses and Gratifications theory’ – allowing audiences to gain
their needs through escapism and allowing them to relate it to their own lives.
Gender – my thriller
represents both females and
males, although the females
massively outnumber the
one male involved. We go
against the stereotype that
women become easily
emotionally unstable rather
than men and by doing this
we initially target a primary
audience for females
however, it may also appeal
to men once views and
opinions are spread by word
or mouth or through the
media. (The two step flow
theory included ‘opinion
leaders’ which influence
other social groups and in
this case, the opposite sex).

4. British Identity
As my thriller is filmed in the UK, the characters and locations do represent UK
citizens and area. All of the characters are aged 16 or 17 (but are made to be
seen as 17/18 in the actual thriller) and the locations include a few shots of fields
and the woods and then the majority of it is filmed in and around a cabin and
because of these aspects, it may cause viewers from outside the UK to question
the represented category.
The characters in my film are seen to be drinking alcohol and in America and
other countries this is not legal until you’re 21 which is one aspect which hints
that it is a British film however, we also wanted to make the characters appear
rebellious so some of the characters are under aged and shouldn’t be drinking
but this is a common problem which happens in the UK and we wanted to show
a true representation of a stereotypical group of friends. The characters in the
film are slightly rebellious as they’re drinking in the middle of the woods
however, they are also respectful and show courage throughout the film because
although we wanted to show a true representation of teenagers, we didn’t want
to make a stereotypical view of all teenagers being, cheap, rude streetwalkers
because they’re not.