AS Evaluation- Question 2

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

My opening sequence consists of 3 main characters, but two of them could be played by the same person. These are; the little sister, the older sister and the killer. We didn't want to have too many characters as we wanted out narrative to be focused, and not have several back stories etc, and so decided on these characters. 

The little sister is portrayed as being innocent through her body language and facial expressions which will make her look sad and lonely, making it obvious to the audience that she is the victim. This character will appeal to the audience because of this, as they will believe she is innocent and is the victim, which is made clear through the use of high angled shots when portraying the little girl. They will therefore sympathise with her, which will mean they are emotionally attached to her throughout the clip. Gender is represented in a stereotypical way, as in thrillers, the victim is stereotypically always a female, and so by using a female in our clip, makes it clearer to the audience that she is the victim. By presenting her in everyday, young clothes such as the pink dress and the pretty pink scarf, it shows her youth, meaning anyone who is a parent or has young friends etc will be able to relate to the little girl, meaning they will feel even more sorry and nervous for her, and will be more shocked when they find out she is dead.

The older sister will help to confuse the audience. They will begin liking her as she is close with her sister, but may feel a sense of betrayal against her because the audience will wonder why she didn't help save her sister. She is used to help create an enigma which is conventional to thrillers as it leaves the audience unsure of what has happened and so they question it and continue to watch to see what happens. We dressed her in jeans and a black coat as this is a normal example of everyday clothing for a teenager. Teenagers of a similar age will be able to relate to this character by what she is wearing and how she feels. They may also sympathise with her when we see her place the rose down as viewers will never want to lose their little brother or sister, no matter how much they argue, and so will connect very easily with this character. 

The killer is the main enigma in my thriller opening as his identity is kept hidden, which is very conventional to the thriller genre as it makes the audience eager to know who the killer is which keeps them engaged with the clip. The audience should react to the killer in a negative way. He/she should make them feel uncomfortable and should be responsible for creating all of the bad emotions the audience feel. 

We wanted to have a relatable, realistic narrative that was still stereotypical to the thriller genre and so we had the enigma of the killer which built suspense. We also had the 2 sisters to show the realistic bond siblings can have, sometimes arguing and not getting along, to the eldest being protective over the younger sister or them happily playing and laughing. This bond would be something the audience can relate to, meaning that when the little sister dies, the audience will feel the pain and heartache the sister may have felt. It makes the entire narrative seem like it can happen in real life which will make viewers be able to relate to the characters easily and sympathise with them.