Evaluation of Distribution Institution

From left to right: Shannon, Hanisha, Georgina, Shannen:

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Evaluation of Representation of social groups in our media product

Representation of Gender

• Our representation of gender in our film followed the stereotypical trail of male kidnapper and female victim. Our two main characters in our film are both females under the age of 18 and often teenagers are casted as the younger they are the more vulnerable they appear

 

• With younger characters, the role of the ‘victim’ is then easier to portray as it is stereotypically presented in film that female characters are physically weaker than males so are less likely to fight them off, which we showed when Georgina gets kidnapped.

• This stereotype can be taken from films that revolve around a kidnapping such as Rush Hour where an 11 year old girl is kidnapped. The victim is young and female just like the characters in our film. During the film, the little girl is dressed in her school uniform which stresses her innocence in the matter.

'Rush Hour' Child kidnapped

• Generally a psychological thriller features a family with a key focus on the children as this pulls on the audiences heartstrings. Our film too follows a similar path as in our film the children are seen to be clearly the victim in the events that take place.

Representation of happy family life

• Casting younger actors allow them to be presented as more likeable and innocent even though they can be troublesome children. Ellie (the younger sister) is a fairly conventional younger sibling as she has that ‘cute’ factor which comes from her youth. We might expect her to be kidnapped, as this seems to be her role - she follows the classic horror stereotype of being curious, rebellious, a bit of a nuisance. But then we twist this by making the older sister who has been working quietly upstairs the victim. This shows how representation and narrative are linked. Adorno suggests stereotypes operate as a shorthand for the audience - but because of this you can also surprise them when they think they know the role characters will take.

 

• From the beginning of the film, we can see that the relationship between the two sisters appears to be more sibling irritation that dislike for another. This hopefully puts the female gender representation in a more positive way. The relationship follows Althusser’s theory in that the more frequently we see the ‘love-hate’ sibling relationship, the more it becomes real.

'New York Minute' - Representation of an annoying sister relationship

Our sibling rivalry

• An example of a negative representation of sisters is the film ‘In Her Shoes’ which strongly focuses on the jealousy brought with sister relationships. This is negative representation of sisters yet this is done to make the audience feel sympathetic for one of the characters. At the end of the film though, the representation changes to positive one as the sisters settle their differences and become close. Our sisters squabble a little at the beginning but are close in reality as the photo of them shows.

'In Her Shoes' - Sister  representation of jealousy/ irritation

Family photo

• What is quite unconventional about female representation in our thriller  is the role which the main character takes as it is not a usual plot for a thriller - she becomes a hero and therefore a stronger and more important character than you would expect. In a stereotypical thriller you would see this character killed or kidnapped and she might develop mental problems because of the trauma. This helps perpetuate a stereotype of women as being weak; both our characters stand up for themselves and fight back.

• In the film 'Out of Sight' we see that a woman is ambushed by two authoritative men, picked up and forced into their car boot. This shows a negative representation of woman as they are stereotyped as being the weaker sex. The men ('villains') are both dressed in dark clothing and appear to know each other and are breaking men out of prison.  The location of this kidnapping is outside a prison by the wired fence which is quiet but not the prison guards main focus. 

Kidnapped -'Out of Sight'

Forced into car boot- 'Out of Sight'

• Another film 'Man on Fire' shows a young girl getting kidnapped due to her association with someone. This too shows the negative representation of women and this girl is female and of a young age which makes her more vulnerable and easier to kidnap. The location of this kidnapping is on an avenue of houses which has been blocked off by the police. 

Child being kidnapped -'Man on Fire'

• Our take on a kidnap follows a similar path as other films that feature an abduction. Georgina (a young, female teenager) opens her own front door to be attacked and dragged out the house. This happens in broad daylight just like in the film 'Man on Fire'. The location of this kidnap takes place on an avenue of houses, on a quiet road where you would least expect a kidnap. As women are most often the victims of domestic abuse, this taps intoa  common fear that the home is not the safe place it should be.

Georgina getting kidnapped in our film 'Hide and Seek'

• We tried to make sure that the audience would feel more sympathetic to the two girls due to their age and innocence even though at the beginning, the older sister had a more negative portrayal through her bossy older sister role. 

• When originally casting our villain, we all agreed that it was necessary to have an actor that came across as strong and overpowering. In stereotypical thrillers, the villain would be aggressive quite robust and male. Yet this stereotype is a negative representation of women as it implies that they are all easy to kidnap and are always the victim. Our chosen villain was taller than Georgina and with the use of mise-en-scène we created an appearance of a bulkier man by wearing a dark jacket which enhanced his shoulders. This could stereotype men negatively as the aggressor.

'Don't Say a Word' Stereotypical 'metal health' problem 

 

Our character is shocked but determined to find out what happened to her sister, even many years later

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Representation of Social Groups in Our Media Product

 Representation of Gender in our Opening Sequence

We originally did not want to follow too many genre conventions for our film to be classed as a stereotypical psychological thriller. The reason for this was so that our film had a sense of originality about it.

However it is stereotypical to have a psychological thriller based around a male villain and a female victim, which is what we have gone for. Therefore our representations may be more conventional than we hoped for.

This is because it was harder than we expected to be original while conveying a clear narrative. Using stereotypes operates as a kind of short cut to signposting what the set up is to the audience.

Patterns of media representation probably result more from the need to tell an effective story quickly than social considerations. This does not mean that repreated stereotypes are not potentially harmful (Pickering). Repeating the idea that men are stronger than women and can use their strength to overpower them is not a choice we would have made if we were not thinking primarily of telling a story everyone can identify with.

 

It is not moral, but because this stereotype is so common and accepted, it does make our film more believable and tense, which is the mood we wanted.

Right from the beginning of our film, we see the relationship with the sisters as being quite close and we know that they are sisters because of the use of dialogue - hopefully this represents women more positively.

It is very stereotypical for a psychological thriller to be based around a family, mainly focusing on siblings. This is what our film does, because family ties mean the idea of one character spending their life searching for the other seems more plausible.

Sister are represented in two kinds of way through media, for example the way that they are represented in the film ‘Ten Things I hate About You’ is negative (competition, a threat). this is done to create comedy as this is the genre of the film. The sisters are also represented in a negative way in the TV show ‘Friends' for the same reason.

 

Our representation is positive - sisters that are close and will do anything for each other. For the representation to work we had to make sure that we cast the sisters so that they looked similar, in order to make it apparent to the audience that they were sisters. The dialogue that was used was constructed to show a realistic but affecgtionate relationship. 

Soap Representation of Sister

  

Our Representation of Sisters

'Friends' Representation of Sisters

'10 Things I Hate About You' representation of sisters

 

• When considering our kidnapper our representation has ended up a stereotypical kidnapper that you would normally find in stereotypical physiological thrillers - stronger, aggressive male. This is potentially negative stereotyping for both men (violent) and women (vulnerable, victim).

• When casting our kidnapper we had to think about who would fit the role best. We decided to cast Georgina’s brother (Wayne) as he was quite tall, had a strong build, in order to give the effect that he could kidnap Georgina.

• We used mise-en-scène to create a recognisable look about our kidnapper. He was dressed in a black hoodie and dark jeans order to give him a mysterious look. When deciding how he would wear his hoodie we decided that he would have his hood up so that the audience would not clearly see his face.

• This works for us as we want to scare the audience if possible. However we could be accused of negatively stereotyping men here.

• A similar representation is used in TV programmes such as ‘Criminal Minds’.

Our Representation of male kidnappers

TV Representation of male kidnapper

'Criminal Minds' Representation of male kidnappers

• It is quite common for the setting of a psychological thrillers to be a family home that has a very cosy feel to it. The lighting in the house is very natural and very bright - creates idea that something can happen even where you feel safest.


• When choosing the location of our film we had to think about the key aspects of a setting of a psychological thriller. This included the thought about what sort of rooms the sisters had and the links we could make with the characters with the setting.

• Using ‘Criminal Minds’ as inspiration we can see that when a kidnapping has taken place the location of it is a normal family house hold.

Media Representation of a location

Our Representation of  a Kidnapping Location

'Criminal Minds' Representation of Location

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Representation in our Media Product

Representations in Our Coursework

Family

• In the two minute sequence shown, the three life stages are represented. Ellie, a child; Georgina, an adolescent and the mother, an adult. The quick representation of different ages in the first 2 minutes is stereotypical – the child wants to play, the adolescent is studying (and refusing to play) and the adult is shown going to work.

• In the screenshot below, this shows a stereotypical aspect of family life: nagging but caring.

Waltons - classic happy family stereotype



My Family - nagging but caring stereotype

• This  also represents role reversal between teenagers and children and their parents; they make sure that their mother has everything so she wouldn’t have to come back and that they would have the house to themselves - classic set up for a thriller and the familiarity of the representation makes it feel a believable situation.

Outnimbered - children often control parents

Home Alone - stereotype of left behind child and ensuing drama

• The extract takes place in the house the whole time. Locations within the house include the teenager’s bedroom, the kitchen, stairs and hallway. The house is shown to be warm – this suggests that the family is happy and comfortable (reinforced by the exchanging of dialogue between the children and their mother before she departs). This is one of the two conventional representsations of family life in media. For us, it needs to be stable and harmonious for the disruption to occur. In other genres, it is often a broken environment and this provides the drama rather than just being a back drop.

• A key point is that representations are often a matter of convenience rather than thought by the producer,

• The mother’s keys and mobile phone (the fact that her children have to remind her suggests that she might be a forgetful person).This is an almost teen drama representation where parents need to be like this so that the teenagers get left alone a lot so the drama can take place.

Saying goodbye

• This screenshot shows a picture frame as a prop. This over the shoulder shot of the older Ellie (younger sister) looking at the old photograph of her and her older sister. This represents the close bonds of family and makes sense of the fact the younger sister will spend the rest of the film looking for the older. Continues positive representation of family.

Looking at the photo frame

• There is a transition towards the end of a cross-dissolve from dream to reality. This represents passing of time and shows the yonger sister has not forgotten - family loyalty is paramount and drives the rest of the film.

• The lighting throughout the house is welcoming – warm, soft, natural and high-key lighting. In contrast, after the nightmare the lighting is cold, hard, artificial and low-key created by the solitary bedside lamp of a grown-up Ellie.

The cross-dissolve

Film representation of close relationship between sisters

 

Evaluation of Representation of Social Group- Shannon Dunne

Our representation of women

-  In society, men frequently stereotyped as more powerful and dominant, women as vulnerable.

- Often the case when it comes to domestic violence.

Press focus on violence gainst women

Georgina being kidnapped in our piece - aggressive, taller, stronger male



Domestic violence in soap opera

- We have added to this stereotype - our main character in the opening kidnapped by an unknown, powerful male.

- Mise-en-scene - he is wearing a dark hoodie, a conventional media stereotype for expressign a thug / bully / 'villain'.

- Kidnap happens in broad daylight and in home, therefore more linked with emotions around domestic violence than 'thriller' style chase.

- Pickering argues stereotyping can be damaging to social groups - possible that we have reinforced ideas of men being violent / women being weak.

- Later in film, younger sister tracks down villain and has her revenge, so maybe this is balanced out in whole film.

- A more positive representation is of the sisters - clearly close.

- Younger sister seems lively and proactive.

- Her attachment to the photo is a traditional way of representing a close relationship in film.

- Close attachment between sisters is one of two competing stereotypes that are quite common in media (the other is that they are rivals)

-  It is also obvious that women are quite emotional and sensitive because through editing, we have a transition that allows the audience to see that Gillian was having a dream meaning that she still thinks about her sister a lot even though many years have passed.

- This representation of women is quite negative because it gives the impression that women are always vulnerable and naïve.

- Our film is quite stereotypical as it represents sisters to be quite tempestuous with their relationship. The dialogue shows this when Ellie is trying to convince Georgina to play hide and seek with her and Georgina responds telling her that she doesn’t want to. The two shot between Georgina and Ellie shows this when Ellie is leaning across towards Georgina wanting to play acting like a typical annoying little sister.

Two shot of Ellie leaning into Georgina

Two sisters from the film 'My Sister's Keeper' shows that they are close

Shows that they are quite close- tempestuous

Film representation of how sisters argue with each other - 10 Things I Hate About You'

- Overall we have used conventions for our genre as this helps tell the story - we needed to quickly establish a sisterly relationship and the basis for the trauma experienced by the younger sister that she deals with through the film - her finding resolution is the basic plot.

- However, it is a little concerning that we might have reinforced some negative stereotypes to do this.

- Hopefully the more positive representation across the whole film (loyal, determined, wants justice) balances this out.

Cut for Audience feedback