The film opening predominantly features female characters, particularly a motherly figure and an adopted girl, to create relatable dynamics for a teenage audience, emphasizing vulnerability and the 'damsel in distress' trope. The male character, a policeman, represents authority, while the ensemble predominantly reflects a white British ethnicity, aligning with local demographics. Various ages are depicted, with older roles portrayed by younger actors, adding an element of relatability despite challenging typical thriller conventions.

1. Gender
Ethnicity
How does
your media
product
represent
particular
social groups?
Age
Class and
status Sexuality
Ability
Regional
Identity

2. Gender
My film opening mainly has the use of female actress’, however, there is one male character. The
main character in my film opening is the motherly role. The use of this character gives a sense of
security as quite often the mother is seen to be the parent with more power as well as being more
approachable, especially when they have a daughter like in my film. When a house hold has a
strong motherly role and a teenage daughter they either clash or get on well which are relatable
relationships for my intended audience, especially because the target audience is teenagers,
therefore they might be going through the same as the characters in my film opening. I chose the
adopted child to be played by a female because they are targeted to look weaker than if it was
a young boy. I wanted the audience to feel sympathy towards her for being vulnerable, which
also matched the thriller codes and conventions as a female role is always seen as the victim due
to being weaker than males. Stereotypically, women are seen less strong as males, however they
are known to be more of the sensitive type. Also, I have chosen for the victim to be female as it
automatically becomes recognisable for the audience to notice that she is the ‘damsel in distress’.
The adopted child is a quiet character (she has no speech throughout the scenes that she is in)
which shows she may be nervous as well as lacking in confidence. This could also suggest that she
is weak. The characters in my film opening are dominantly female, however the policeman is
played by the only male role. This implies that the male is still the most powerful character in the
film because the police will have the most authority overall anyway. I have supported the male
gaze theory slightly because the male policeman has a female policeman at the side of him
which shows that from the male point of view, they will always have a woman by their side. It also
supports Propp’s character theory. This is because the male policeman takes lead and directs the
conversation therefore the female is seen as maybe a sidekick. Dressing the male in a suit can
draw in the older female audience. This can also reassure the audience that not all male
characters are the villains.

3. Linking gender to Thriller films
Following my research that I did on other thriller films, I then looked deeper into the characters and
social groups shown within them. Comparing and contrasting with my film opening, I looked at
several thriller films –
Damsel in destress characters are stereotypically, always played by a female. For example, in
James Bond, the hero (James Bond) faces opposition and danger to save the female. This is a
comparison to my film opening because the damsel in destress is the young girl, and the male
character is trying to help find her as it is his job which can be seen as heroic. In addition to this,
James Bond also has a sidekick which I have tried to represent with the two police roles. The male
role can also be seen as similar to James Bond as they both wear suits to be seen as professional as
well as to draw in the female audience.

4. Ethnicity
You can identify different ethnicities by the common language used and social, cultural, or
national experiences. All my characters and actor’s/actress’ that I have used in my film opening
are all White British. This is because I set it in the area where I live, which is a White British area and I
have used people and friends from my school which is also mainly of the White British ethnicity.
Linking ethnicity to Thriller films
When researching into Thriller films I found that White British people were regularly used.
The Bourne Identity cast:
Gone Girl cast:

5. Age
I have tried to show various age’s in my film opening by including a child role, a motherly role and
grown up policemen, however they are all played by the same aged actor and actress’. To
present the character as a mother, I used a costume that looks like females of the age of mid
twenties – early thirties would wear, rather than teenagers. In addition to this, I then gave the
younger girl character a dress to wear to prove her youth compared to her ‘mother’. The fact
that the adopted girl is represented in her early teens, supports the fact that she is vulnerable as I
believe the younger you are the more vulnerable you are as you are less knowledgeable. The
actor’s and actress’ I have used are in the age gap of 15-18, which is also my target audience of
my media production. I believe that this is important as it is more relatable. Whilst filming and
creating my final film opening I found it hard to disguise the fact that I was using young actors,
however the lighting that I used challenged this as the daylight showcased their actual age and
size. This might come across comical to my audience because the actor’s and actress’ are trying
to act older than they are however I think they presented this well. I challenged the thriller codes
and conventions, as using unknown and younger actor’s is not a main convention.

6. Age
I have tried to show various age’s in my film opening by including a child role, a motherly role and
grown up policemen, however they are all played by the same aged actor and actress’. To
present the character as a mother, I used a costume that looks like females of the age of mid
twenties – early thirties would wear, rather than teenagers. In addition to this, I then gave the
younger girl character a dress to wear to prove her youth compared to her ‘mother’. The fact
that the adopted girl is represented in her early teens, supports the fact that she is vulnerable as I
believe the younger you are the more vulnerable you are as you are less knowledgeable. The
actor’s and actress’ I have used are in the age gap of 15-18, which is also my target audience of
my media production. I believe that this is important as it is more relatable. Whilst filming and
creating my final film opening I found it hard to disguise the fact that I was using young actors,
however the lighting that I used challenged this as the daylight showcased their actual age and
size. This might come across comical to my audience because the actor’s and actress’ are trying
to act older than they are however I think they presented this well. I challenged the thriller codes
and conventions, as using unknown and younger actor’s is not a main convention.