This document discusses the representation of social groups in a film. It summarizes that teenagers are portrayed both violently through a sniper killing one of the boys, but also positively through the main character's maturity and ability to survive. Male characters typically feature a macho main protagonist, but the film breaks this by emphasizing the main character's fear through sound effects. Though he drives a stereotypically masculine muscle car, he focuses on escape rather than fighting back. The female sniper breaks gender norms by having a position of power rather than being a love interest, though her role could be seen as portraying women negatively as emotionally detached killers.

1. By Fred Shepherd
HOW WE REPRESENTED SOCIAL GROUPS

2. TEENAGERS
• Since our film features only teenagers/young adults we understand that the world the film
is set in is run by young people. However it represents teenagers as violent people shown
by the sniper killing one of the boys. However it also shows the main character as mature
and in control of the situation. He works his way out of danger and promotes the good
side of the social group.
• Teenagers are shown in movies (often in the horror genre) to be naïve and generally
stupid and clueless until something major happens to them. They are also shown simply
as party animals and immature, we wanted to break these stereotypes by showing
teenagers as an aggressive group that adapts well to survive.

3. MALE CHARACTERS
• Following the typical action thriller convention the main character of our film is male.
However he is not portrayed in a conventional way. The use of heartbeat and breathing
sound effects emphasize the characters fear and take away the macho façade that many
main characters have in thriller movies.
• It is also unusual in the case that there is no effort to fight back against the sniper and
only escape which on it’s own shows a sense of either cowardice or survival instinct.
• However the male character is given a stereotypically male vehicle in the form of a
muscle car. The way in which he drives it is aggressive and shows that the character is
confortable with driving thus evoking another stereotype. This stereotype has been used
in many films throughout history, Bullitt is one of them. The character is given more
masculinity by his choice of car.

4. FEMALE CHARACTERS
• The female character in our film is atypical of a female character in an action thriller.
Conventionally the female character would be the love interest for the male main
character, however instead she is a sniper. This is a positive stereotype as it shows an
ability precision and breaks down they typical gender roles. The position of power in the
scene is also positive as it doesn’t just show equality in the scene but also a power shift.
• It could also be argued that the representation shows females as violent and murderous
which is obviously a negative view. To be a sniper it often takes a lot of emotional
detachment and the female character seems to have that.