1. How does your media product represent particular social groups? Evaluation Question 2

2. Point- how did you intend to represent the social groups featured in your production? We intended to represent the little girl (Ella) as weak and vulnerable. We did this through mise en scene. For example we made sure she was wearing bright colours including pinks and reds in order to portray her age and helplessness. In our production we left the colour of her red trousers and her pink rucksack, however we turned the rest of the footage black to connote her innocence clearly to the audience. Additionally we included high angle shots looking down on Ella which showed the audience how small she was in comparison to Harry the kidnapper. Our audience feedback suggested that the use of leave colour (on Ellas costume) throughout our production was effective as it drew focus to the young child. However some of our target audience stated that this technique was not effective as it detracted from the narrative. To improve the representation of Ellas character I think we could have used dialogue to show her lack of development. 3. Cont. I think the stereotype associated with the character of Ella would have made the audience feel sympathetic and protective of her. For example the audience may have been able to empathise with her mother. Stereotypes are important within films as they allow the audience to have a pre-judged idea of the character before they feature in the text. Stereotypes help build a personality for the specific character as the actions of the character will be already established. Sometimes this can help the narrative of a text to develop as the stereotype may be prone to a certain way of living. 4. How did you intend to represent the social groups in your production? The second stereotype we featured within our production was the antagonist. For example we specifically chose the antagonist to be male. Males are usually stereotyped as being the antagonist as their character usually has to convey anger and violence (which may not be seen natural for a woman). In order to create this stereotype the mise en scene in the shot had to be effective; for example he needed to wear dark clothing (black coat and dark jeans). We additionally succeeded in this stereotype via the use of body language. For instance we made sure the antagonist was standing behind a wall and looked very sinister in order to connote evil and danger ahead. 5. Cont. I think the stereotype used in this example would have an impact on society as this may reinforce the idea of men being the antagonist. For example the behaviour of males is usually regarded as more suspect than the same behaviour of women. We could have possibly treated the groups more fairly by including another antagonist (a female) as this would have been an counter-type and would have represented both men and women in a similar way. 6. How did you intend to represent the social groups in your production? The inclusion of the character of Ellas mother Lindsey represents women to be subordinate. For example Lindsey manages to lose Ella in the town centre. This represents women to be slow and dim-witted. This can often be stereotypical as women are often negatively stereotyped to be physically and mentally inferior to men. Additionally we used a female character to be shopping with Ella as this makes the narrative seem believable and creates a sense of verisimilitude which appeals to the audience. 7. Continued. I think the stereotype of Lindsey in this production would make the audience (especially females) empathise and feel guilty for the character. This stereotype isnt fair or an accurate representation of women, however it is the way in which some societies view women therefore I think the inclusion of this stereotype is justified as some of the audience members might recognise and feel familiar with this character. 8. How did you intend to represent the social groups in your production? The character I played (the witness) was introduced to act as an countertype/anti- stereotype. For example most people would associate blonde women as being unintelligent, ditzy and unreliable. In our production the inclusion of my character was to challenge this stereotype. For instance the witness is speaking to the police about an important incident that has just happened and therefore this means that all information needs to be delivered clearly and reliably. My character defies the stereotypes associated with blondes as the witness tells the police information on what she was wearing and where the incident took place in order for the police to find her. 9. Continued. The countertype included suggests to the audience that hair colour isnt a factor in how clever/how much common sense somebody has. This additionally portrays young teenagers to be seen positively as speaking to the police about a serious incident can be very difficult. I think if we were to use another character as opposed to a stereotypical dumb blonde the witness role would not have had such a large impact as the countertype allows the audience to see that not all stereotypes are accurate which contrasts the role of blonde women. 10. How did you intend to represent the social groups in your production? We chose to include a real policeman in our production as the inclusion of real props and real mise en scene would create a sense of verisimilitude for the audience. As the policeman sounded friendly and looked smart I think this represents police officers positively. 11. Continued. Having a real police officer as a character I think will have had a large impact on the audience as they will have been able to see what the police actually have to do. A lot of the time police officers are stereotyped negatively. In our production we deliberately tried to portray the policeman positively as in the opening sequence this creates anticipation for the audience as nice people are usually expected to be the protagonist and save the day!