Evaluation
My questions
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our media product, we have created represents of many different social groups in particular women and black males. We have reinforced social gender stereotypes through presenting the female as the weaker character; this is shown in our opening scene in which she is lying dead on the floor, showing her vulnerability as the two male detectives look down at her, emphasising the patriarchy. Along with our male detectives we also purposefully created male forensic investigators and a male police officer in order to further show male power and authority over the female character, this is shown throughout the opening scene as the police tape is in place so only these males within authority can enter. These roles show a sense of power and emphasises the role patriarchy plays in society – there is only one female character (who is dead) and no females in any position of power.
As a group we hid the identity of the forensics investigators to show they only have a minor role, whereas the two detectives are dressed smartly to show their importance and higher status. With exception to the police officer who is dressed in a high-vis coat to create realism, the characters are also dressed in dark colours to emphasise the negative and gloomy environment of the death scene.
All the actors we chose are young; this allows our target audience, 18 – 25 year olds, to connect with the characters and feel more empathetic with them throughout the film. We wanted to create a different stereotype from the lazy and loud image teenagers and young people usually have within society and wanted to create an anti-stereotype by creating characters that are mature and hard working. However, our young cast may act as a disadvantage as older audiences may not take the characters seriously due to their age.
As our two main leads are both black men with positions of authority within the film; we have gone against the negative stereotype this social group face that black men are against authority. We wanted to use anti-stereotyping again to create a representation of young black men as mature and responsible.
4. Who would be the audiences for you media product
The target audience for our film is 18 – 25 year old black males. From the research we did using an audience survey, we were able to analyse what that audience expects from a crime film. Most of the participants stated that they expect action, weapons and chase scenes within an opening of a crime film. Although our opening doesn’t include any of those factors, we wanted to challenge our audience through showing them something different, something with more mystery and suspense, rather than the norm and encourage them to judge the film based on that. Our aim was to be unique. However, these elements would have been included within the film if made in its entirety as it is what the audience wants in the film itself.
5. How did you attract/ address your audiences?
We attracted our audience by giving them characters to feel a bond with and relate to; the use of younger characters encourages the target audience to feel more connected with them and not be put off by an older hero who we would typically see in a crime film of this style. Also, through the use of the camera we created a position of power for the audience. We did not include any close ups, instead we used long shots and extreme long shots allowing the audience to see more of the location and created a camera position in which the audience can view the whole crime scene making them feel superior by absorbing all the key mise en scene, such as props including police tape, office equipment, maps etc to make the scenes more realistic. Our first script did not attract the audience but instead gave away too much information about the victim’s death and her character, therefore we changed it to allow the audience to know less and want to know more, creating a hook into the film through our opening. We did not talk down to our audience but instead treated them as equal through the use of language.
My questions
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our media product, we have created represents of many different social groups in particular women and black males. We have reinforced social gender stereotypes through presenting the female as the weaker character; this is shown in our opening scene in which she is lying dead on the floor, showing her vulnerability as the two male detectives look down at her, emphasising the patriarchy. Along with our male detectives we also purposefully created male forensic investigators and a male police officer in order to further show male power and authority over the female character, this is shown throughout the opening scene as the police tape is in place so only these males within authority can enter. These roles show a sense of power and emphasises the role patriarchy plays in society – there is only one female character (who is dead) and no females in any position of power.
As a group we hid the identity of the forensics investigators to show they only have a minor role, whereas the two detectives are dressed smartly to show their importance and higher status. With exception to the police officer who is dressed in a high-vis coat to create realism, the characters are also dressed in dark colours to emphasise the negative and gloomy environment of the death scene.
All the actors we chose are young; this allows our target audience, 18 – 25 year olds, to connect with the characters and feel more empathetic with them throughout the film. We wanted to create a different stereotype from the lazy and loud image teenagers and young people usually have within society and wanted to create an anti-stereotype by creating characters that are mature and hard working. However, our young cast may act as a disadvantage as older audiences may not take the characters seriously due to their age.
As our two main leads are both black men with positions of authority within the film; we have gone against the negative stereotype this social group face that black men are against authority. We wanted to use anti-stereotyping again to create a representation of young black men as mature and responsible.
4. Who would be the audiences for you media product
The target audience for our film is 18 – 25 year old black males. From the research we did using an audience survey, we were able to analyse what that audience expects from a crime film. Most of the participants stated that they expect action, weapons and chase scenes within an opening of a crime film. Although our opening doesn’t include any of those factors, we wanted to challenge our audience through showing them something different, something with more mystery and suspense, rather than the norm and encourage them to judge the film based on that. Our aim was to be unique. However, these elements would have been included within the film if made in its entirety as it is what the audience wants in the film itself.
5. How did you attract/ address your audiences?
We attracted our audience by giving them characters to feel a bond with and relate to; the use of younger characters encourages the target audience to feel more connected with them and not be put off by an older hero who we would typically see in a crime film of this style. Also, through the use of the camera we created a position of power for the audience. We did not include any close ups, instead we used long shots and extreme long shots allowing the audience to see more of the location and created a camera position in which the audience can view the whole crime scene making them feel superior by absorbing all the key mise en scene, such as props including police tape, office equipment, maps etc to make the scenes more realistic. Our first script did not attract the audience but instead gave away too much information about the victim’s death and her character, therefore we changed it to allow the audience to know less and want to know more, creating a hook into the film through our opening. We did not talk down to our audience but instead treated them as equal through the use of language.