Evaluation Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product is the opening sequence of a fictional thriller film. It represents particular social groups through mise-en-scene, camera, editing and sound, most notably gender and regional identity.

Our thriller opens on a kitchen where our female character, Piper, is chopping vegetables. It is clearly a kitchen because there is a sink, a microwave and a large kitchen table.

This is a stereotypical representation of women as she is depicted as a housewife, cooking dinner for the family and this is an example of mise en scene creating a negative representation of gender. This representation is emphasised by the close up of her cutting up carrots :

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However this representation changes when the audience discovers that she has a gun in her kitchen drawer as there is a close up shot of her opening the drawer and taking the gun out. The camera also shows a close up on Piper’s face when the man on the other end of the phone call says ‘Shut up and listen. Your husband is here with me.’ These are examples of camera building a positive representation of gender for the audience - her calm reaction depicts her as professional and in control and this is a counter typical representation of women in thriller films, because usually the female characters react in total panic and fear when something bad happens. This representation of Piper as a strong, assured character is highlighted when the close up on her face shows that she reacts calmly instead of panicking.

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Furthermore, the close up of Piper loading the gun portrays her as skilled in using a gun, because she loads it very quickly. Her assured, skilful behaviour is emphasised for the audience through this close up. Being proficient with weapons is an unusual characteristic for female characters in thrillers. Therefore in the character of Piper we have subverted a gender stereotype.

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There is a clear contrast in status between the men in the basement. Erik and the two henchmen - both dressed in boiler suits - have the higher status and power over John as he is tied up. The close up of the henchmen beating up John emphasises the control that they have over him and the shot of John surrounded by the three men is at a high angle which depicts him as weaker and more vulnerable compared to the others. 
Furthermore, there are various shots in our thriller which were filmed as over the shoulder shots, from Erik's point of view looking at Joh We did this on purpose because it lends all the control to Erik.
This is an example of camera building a negative representation of men and depicts the character of John as counter typical as usually men are depicted as strong, not weak.

The basement is bare and unfurnished. It looks dirty and much darker than the kitchen, which is Piper’s domain. Thus the location used conditions the audience’s attitude towards certain characters - Erik, a man, as bad and Piper, a woman, as good. h is an example of mise en scene creating a negative representation of the male characters in our media product.

We edited some of our original shots so that the villain’s face is hidden until the very end of the thriller. This maintained the sense of mystery around the character and made him more sinister and evil for the audience. Since we chose to make the villain a man, this is a negative representation of men, emphasised by editing.

The sound used in our thriller also builds a representation of gender. When Erik fires the gun, we used a pleonastic sound effect for the gun shot. The exaggerated volume of the shot portrays Erik as very powerful and violent, which is a stereotypical representation of men in thrillers. However, we also used a slightly exaggerated volume for the noise of Piper loading the gun to ensure that she is also depicted as a strong character. Thus, through sound we have represented these two characters as equal, which is subverting the stereotypes usually employed in thrillers. 

Furthermore, we used pleonastic punching noises to show how strong the 'henchmen' are and the pain that they are causing the more vulnerable John, which presents them negatively.

Our thriller also creates a representation of social groups through the use of regional identity. Piper, the hero, has an accent typical of someone from South-West England whereas Erik, the villain, has a Liverpudlian accent. Since there is a stereotype of relating Liverpool to criminals, here we adhered to this negative stereotype.