Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our production we decided to have two main characters; a male and a female. This is because we could show the different representations of gender stereotypes; yet maintain a serious, thriller attitude. Throughout the whole piece you cannot see the characters’ faces, this is to add suspense and let the audience raise questions through the enigmas. We felt that by showing the characters’ faces, it would simply downgrade our production, making it less professional.

The male character is seen to be very powerful, wealthy and smart looking, which we conveyed by making the character wear a black suit, showing wealth and status because it is linked with business men. We felt this was necessary as it makes this character seem more like a spy. Additionally, to ensure that this opening sequence was of a high standard, the characters were seen wearing the same outfit each time we shot, otherwise there would be a major continuity flaw.

This image shows the back of the male character. He is seen to be wearing a black suit, and his posture is upright, which connotes the idea of wealth and status since he is obviously a very independent character and can make a living for himself. The shot leaves a simple silhouette of the characters body, leaving enigmas throughout the audience as to who he is. The further this character goes into the distance, the more the lens blurs. We thought that this added tension yet was a subtle effect. This character does follow many of the typical male stereotypes in thriller films, since he is wealthy and knows what he is doing. This can create a anxious atmosphere amongst the audience as they do not know the proper identity of this character, and might feel intimidated by his look.

This character is aged around 20 to attract a young adult based audience. The lighting in these shots is bright to capture the whole surrounding. You can tell that this character is powerful since he is wearing a black suit and drives a sports car. The suit is black to give a sense of death amongst the audience.

We did some research on male roles in thriller spy films, and some who were of similar nature came up as Matt Damon from the Bourne Identity, and Daniel Craig as James Bond. These two spies are both wearing smart clothing, in a black shade, like our character is. Furthermore, they both have good postures and are powerful, linking with George in our opening sequence.

The female on the other hand is aimed towards a similar age group as the male, however does different actions as to the male. For instance, the male character will be putting on a watch, whilst the female is putting on earrings. These actions are very stereotypical, however work nicely and make the audience more interested.  We did follow an anti-stereotype though with the female character as I was portrayed doing a males job, and the role of a spy is normally linked with males, not females. 

I played the female character, and to ensure the theme of smartness linking with spies, we decided it was best by making me wear a black blazer and black trousers. This linked with George since he was also wearing black clothing, because it links with death and darkness, and spies are known for assassinating people, causing deaths.

A similar film to our thriller opening sequence would be James Bond Skyfall. This is because it features a male and female character, both wealthy and both spies. In this shot we can see that the female is wearing dark red lipstick and dark eye makeup to connote with the fact she is a spy and assassinates people for a living – linking with blood and death. Whereas, the male character is seen in a black tuxedo and having a martini, showing power and wealth.