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

In my opening sequence I  have only included one character as I wanted my opening sequence to be slightly different to the typical thriller opening sequences and be unique. My character at the beginning of the scene is deemed to be an innocent young girl as through the use of the mise en scene of her putting on make up portrays her as a typical young girl. However the audience will start to see a change in character when she starts to circle the glass and when the location changes from the house to the forest. The emotions of the audience may change from sympathy to envy when she changes. I just wanted to have one character in our thriller so the audience can just focus on her and will be understand the narrative more as there is only one powerful character. Also by just having one character the audience will be able to engage with her more meaning they will be more interested in the film.I also just had one character so it will be quicker to film. The character is a 15 year old girl who looks innocent with typical blonde hair. We've decided to use a young girl with blonde hair as it’s very conventional to the thriller genre as the audience is more likely to sympathize for her meaning a relationship will be built. The age of the girl is important because they are more likely to feel sorry for her building more of a relationship between them. Also by having her a similar age that the audience will be, they will be able to relate to her more meaning a relationship will be built. The girl comes across vulnerable as at the beginning she’s vulnerable and looks innocent as she comes across in that way by putting on make-up etc whereas at the end she looks unstable. The clothing she was wearing was a plain grey tee and plain jeans. We wanted her to wear something plain to portray the innocence so the audience will sympathize for her when she gets possessed. The clothing will also appeal to the audience as they will wear similar clothing so they can relate more to the film. I also chose this character so people will be asking questions meaning they will want to watch more. She will create enigma and keep the audience fascinated. I just decided to use her instead of two characters as she is a very strong character and I didn't want to have two strong characters.

The representation of the character changes throughout the opening sequence.  At the beginning she comes across really innocent as she is seen putting on make-up and getting ready to go out. She comes across as the victim to the audience and they sympathise for her. However when she puts water on her face after she gets ready the audience starts to notice she’s not right. Especially after she circles the glass and drops it on the floor the representation of the girl changes from her being innocent to her being possessed and evil. I decided the girl would change from innocent to evil to show the audience she’s not as she seems and to get a point across that not everything is as it seems. I also decided to have 2 representations of her as I only have one character and I wanted it to make it more interesting for the audience so we wanted to change the way they felt about her. The audience may also feel sorry for her but however they may feel different and get a feel that she’s mental which will build a tense atmosphere and build a relationship between them.  

The gender of the girl is represented in a typical way as she’s young and a female so the audience will feel sorrier for her when she dies. When she becomes her own killer she is very not very stereotypical to the thriller genre as she in young and has blonde hair which is the opposite of what typical killers look like. I believe this was a risk but has been successful. The character would appeal to the audience as she’s a similar age to them which is 15 so they would be able to relate to her easily which makes the film more interesting for them. They can relate to how she feels meaning that they may sympathize for her or may envy her. I want the audience to have different opinions of my character because she has 2 different representations.  I also chose this character so people will be asking questions meaning they will want to watch more. She will create enigma and keep the audience fascinated. I decided to use her instead of two characters as I didn’t want to only wanted to have one strong character.