2. Female representation in
our film opening
Our protagonist, the character which is most prominent in the film opening, is
a young girl. We made this decision as a convention of the thriller genre, to
have a ‘damsel in distress’ however, our representation is slightly different than
perhaps typical thriller media texts. Females are usually not a main character,
but a companion or love interest of a male lead character whose purpose is to
save her. In our thriller the girl is a character in her own. Although she is young
and alone, her dancing talent suggests that she has some strength and
determination. Furthermore this also shows that the female has more
personality than the usual ‘victim’ in the thriller genre. We were attempting to
make an audience have empathy for the girl and care about her circumstances.
Despite this, the female is still being presented as weaker and more vulnerable
than the male character in the opening due to the fact that she is being
obliviously followed by an intimidating male stranger. As the light fades, she
becomes more isolated, taking a route down a dark ally, something that
females in society are advised not to do. This is to build tension and to give
the impression for the audience that she is in danger.
3. Male representation in our
film opening
We chose to give away very little about the male character in the film
opening in order to present him as threatening, mysterious and to draw
the audience in to wanting to know more. Overall the impression of male
in the film opening is negative as the male character is clearly shown to be
the antagonist; silently following the female as she hurries away from him.
In the film opening we reinforce this stereotype through the use of mise
en scene; dark clothing and face concealed by a hat.
This could be seen as an unfair representation of the male gender as
obviously not all males are intimidating and threatening towards women.
However, it is a common representation to have in a thriller genre as men
are often viewed as more violent, aggressive and dominant than women.
4. Overall
In our film opening there are two main presentations of social groups;
male and female.
These two contrasting groups appear to be in a battle with one another
with the male representation dominating over the female. This is not
necessarily a realistic representation of society but it is just a reflection of
some of the ideas an audience may have about men and woman.
Furthermore there are only two characters presented in the opening so the
representation is somewhat limited, if we were creating a full film perhaps
we could take the opportunity to present a wider variety of social groups
and in different ways.
