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

Josie Morrison – Karen as a young girl

The first time that Karen appears in my film is when Josie plays her as a young girl. I wanted to make sure that there was a close up shot of her facial expression as this was important to show her happiness and innocence as a child that has been taken away as she got older. Her being at the side of the shot didn’t make the focus go off of her character because she was the only object in the shot; however it did make it seem as if her importance is leaving because something else is going to take over (the shoes).

Josie fits with the conventions in films of the female victim (however at this stage of the film she isn’t “known” as the victim). Josie’s smile being present in every shot that she is makes the connotations of her innocence stronger, which builds up to a bigger shock for when the audience see the distress in her older self. In the panning shot leading to Josie’s feet show her standing in a proud position like a typical young girl admiring herself and her special shoes in the mirror. Because of the genre of film the audience can tell that this will not last, but as the shot pans back up to her being older and distressed by the situation, this contrasts it well.

I dressed Josie in the same way as Mae in order to give a clear connection between them, because they are the same character just at different ages.  I chose to leave the red blanket in the frame of the shots that Josie is in to show that the connections to red has always been in her life, just not as significant until the shoes begin to take over. The bagginess of the Red coat makes her seem more innocent as it reflects on the fact she is still only a child.

 

Mae Morrison – Karen

Mae’s character was portrayed to be frustrated by her circumstances because as she got towards the end of her journey she began to pull her legs trying to get the shoes off. I wanted Mae to be portrayed as if this was a normal situation for her, because she has grown up with it (from when the character was played by Josie as a young girl) however I wanted the hidden frustration to come out, drawing her to the temptation of having the shoes cut off – which is why she is on the journey. I didn’t want to have Mae rushing to the end of her journey, so that it could be portrayed that she was taking calm and collected approach to the situation showing how ready she is for it.

Natalie Portman as the white swan, she is a victim

In the thriller films that I have watched, and in other films in general females are considered to be the innocent and vulnerable character which is why I chose to use her. Typically these characters having long blonde hair like the typical “damsel in distress”, they are tall and delicate which is why I chose Mae to play this role. The typical vulnerable girl also tends to be a young teenager or a young adult, so using Mae fitted the conventions well.

I wanted Mae to wear something red in order to match the colour of the shoes and make the connotations of that colour stand out. I had to choose carefully to make sure that the red didn’t give the impression of Love or Lust so choosing a High buttoned Coat with a floral collar took away the connotation that she was a lustful character. I chose for her to wear black tights to show the insignificance to her legs because the shoes have taken over control, also the colour black implies the darkness that they hold. Mid shots and close up shots focused more on her lower body and her shoes because her identity isn’t as important as the way the shoes have taken over, This creates mystery because although the audience do see her face, they focus more on her lower half and feet so they do not get to know who the character is very well. It reflects on the fact that her shoes have taken over her, stealing the attention from who she is. When the audience did see her face, there were more long shots and mid shots because again her characteristics and person isn’t as “important”, her emotion was still clearly shown though, especially at the end when it was more of a close up shot of her looking through the window at the end of the journey.

When Mae got to the end of her journey and reached the executioners hut she walked past an axe and a skull. These were significant props because it was a last chance to imply where she was and the dangers ahead of her. Her innocence at the beginning of the film, leading to the implications of death and danger at the end shows her vulnerability and allows the audience to feel sympathetic towards her character. At the end she taps on the window with only her finger, this gives a connotation that she is nervous and shy, suddenly all of the darkness and bad in her life is stripped away and the innocent little girl is back. This again makes the audience worry for her safety and want to know what is going to happen.For both of the girls, I asked them to wear very little, just natural make up so that they still looked very young. Blusher was important to use on their cheeks to give them that typical “rosy cheeked” innocent look that is typical to young characters in films.



Natalie Portman as the black swan

The character in my opening could be compared to Natalie Portman’s character in the ‘Black Swan’ (Directed by Darren Aronofsky). Her character is perfect for the lead role of the white swan in “Swan Lake, because of her dancing, and also because of her pure and innocent characteristics, much like the younger version of Karen in my opening. Throughout the film she slowly loses her mind, and as it progresses becomes demonised and much like the Black swan, the deadly version of her original character. In my opening, the innocent character unravels into the distressed girl that has been taken over by her shoes; much like the black swan took over the white. Apart from the psychological transformation and the character match, the character in my opening is different to the black swan because of her appearance. Both girls in my opening were dressed in the same way (unlike the transformation in the black swan where she changed from dressing in white to black). They also had very subtle and delicate make up on to allow the innocence that was once there to come through. The Mise en scene however is quite similar with both my opening and in the film of the black swan; both my characters and the one in the film are in an isolated and run down environment (apart from when she is in the ballet studio) both of which add to the disturbed effect of the film and opening.

Stuart – the executioner

Stuart's Charachter appearance

In my film, Stuart plays the executioner that is only introduced at the end.  I did this so that the Audience would ask questions as to whom this new character is and what he is going to do, it leaves them on a cliff hanger and makes them want to watch more which is what should happen in a successful film opening. 



Stuart’s character needed to be mysterious, so he was filmed in darkness but with the light coming from candles, he was also filmed through a dirty window which put a barrier between him and the audience so they couldn’t get close enough to connect with this character – making him more mysterious. The dirty window also conceals his identity more and gives connotations as to what kind of place he is in.

Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition

When I was planning Stuart’s character I used the character that Tom Hanks plays in “Road to Perdition” (the way he is shown in the picture above). He looks mysterious but as if he means business. The environment that he is in looks dark, but is lit by the street lights, he is wearing long concealing clothing (like Stuart in my film) and his face is not clear.

In thriller films it is conventionally the male that is the “bad guy” or plays the “killer” character, so to support the gender representations I used Stuart. The male gender is typically a lot more powerful and strong than the female characters so already he has the authority over Mae. Also in thrillers these males are either of quite a young age or of an older age for example 40-50. I chose to use Stuart because He is an older adult who makes it seem as if hislot of experience in what he is doing, also because of his age he again has more domination over Mae’s character which adds tension to the film.

The charachter from home alone

As well as wearing dark, big clothing I asked Stuart to leave his face unshaven because it made the character looks more rugged and Un-cared for, I got this idea from the man in home alone that all the children are afraid of because he looks this way, and tales are made up about him. Although his identity is hidden, if this part of his face is clear to the audience through the candle light it would be effective and a good connotation for the audience to see as they try and work out the character. I left Stuart mainly in darkness and used a short shot of him close up at the end so that the film was left in mystery. When filming this I filmed it from the female characters point of view so the audience would feel as if they were in her shoes, having a strange and mysterious man getting closer and closer to you would give an uncomfortable and nervous effect. However if I was to edit the film once more I would prolong this clip, just by another second because I think it moved on a bit too quickly.

In my media product I think that I represented social groups in an effective way. I represented both genders of characters in the typical way for a film and followed conventions well. Using young actors and females as the main character would still appeal to a different range of age groups and people because of the genre of film and the way that it fits with the conventions that are expected of it.