In our thriller opening we endeavoured to challenge generic stereotypes associated with character.

Representation of gender

Contrary to the conventional representation of male characters in the thriller genre; that they are strong, dominant figures, such as the character of ‘Bourne’ in ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘James Bond’ in ‘Casino Royale’, who is seen to use his power and status to violently attack another man in the opening; the male in our thriller opening, Sam, is presented as being emasculated due to his insignificant role in society. In contrast, our female character Norma does not conform with the conventional representation of gender either; being a female who is portrayed as deviant and controlling.

Through research on homelessness, it became apparent that people of such a position would generally be considered as insignificant and helpless, and so we decided that in order for our character Sam to be a realistic portrayal of this social group, it would be justified for him to appear in such a way.

Though going against the generic stereotypes associated with gender within society, the idea of a deviant female character is commonly explored in film noir productions of the 1930’s. A femme fatale, an attractive or seductive woman who will eventually cause distress to a man who becomes involved with her, is a character type who we made reference to in our thriller opening with the character of Norma.

Bond is a dominant and masculine character in the opening to ‘Casino Royale’ (2009)

Similarly, Bourne is presented as a powerful and controlling figure during the fight scene in ‘The Bourne Identity’ (2002)

No Place for a Woman: The Family in Film Noir "Of the three types of noir women, the femme fatale represents the most direct attack on traditional womanhood and the nuclear family. She refuses to play the role of devoted wife and loving mother that mainstream society prescribes for women” -http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/noir/np05ff.html

In our thriller opening we have attempted to represent those who live in poverty, and more specifically the homeless, through a storyline which revolves around the life of a homeless person, whose unfortunate position leads him to trouble.

Representation of those who live on the margins

Our thriller opening aims to highlight the increasing problem of homelessness which, as government figures suggest, is a rising issue in UK cities. This is highlighted in the ‘rough sleeping in England: autumn 2013' statistics from the 'Department for communities and local government‘. It concludes; 'The Autumn 2013 total of street counts and estimates in England was 2,414. This is an increase of 5% from the 2012 figure of 2,309, which was an increase of 6% from the 2011 figure of 2,181'. We portray the social issue in our opening fairly; our lead character Sam represents the idea that such an issue can occur with any person at any given time. In order to give this impression we present Sam as a relatively ordinary individual, he has a common unisex name and his costume consists of plain and functional clothing, representing the reality that homelessness is affecting more people than ever before.

Amateur film maker Robby West’s recent work ‘Homeless in middle England’ gives us an impression of the terrifying circumstances that such people suffer, and so we present our homeless character Sam in our thriller opening as being emasculated and often seen of by others as a nuisance, eventually making him the target of a hate crime. The representation that the homeless are commonly the victims of crime due to their vulnerable position is supported by a number of recent cases in which brutal attacks have been carried out on those sleeping rough. A report from ‘Huffingtonpost.com’ from 2012 highlights the findings of a 'National Coalition for the homeless' report which explains that '32 homeless people in the United States died as a result of violent attacks in 2011'

Representation of ethnicity

With our protagonist Sam being played by a Malaysian actor, our thriller opening ‘Homeless’ represents ethnic minorities within British society as being inferior to indigenous white British people; an idea which is emphasised with the fact that the attacker Norma is part of this large ethnic group. A similar representation is constructed in ‘This is England’ (2006) in which ‘Combo’ is seen to exercise his racist views and antagonise those who he sees as inferior to him, bearing a resemblance to the character Norma in our thriller opening.

Later in the film, Combo is seen to violently beat Milky, who is the only black member of the skinheads gang. In ‘Homeless’ we make reference to ‘This is England’ in the way that we represent ethnic minorities in contemporary Britain as being inferior to those who are indigenous British people.

Combo violently attacks Milky in ‘This is England’ representing ethnic minorities in England as vulnerable and overpowered by those who are native.

Norma violently attacks Sam in our thriller opening ‘Homeless’

Through research I have found that homeless people are considered as victims and are vulnerable and at risk of violent attack. Recent news articles have highlighted the issue; an article headlined 'Anti-Homeless Hate Crimes Detailed In New Report' on 'Huffingtonpost.com' from December 2012 highlights the issue reporting that '32 homeless people in the United States died as a result of violent attacks in 2011‘. Furthermore, people of ethnic minority groups who are homeless are at an increased risk, with racist attitudes that are stirred up in regard to immigration by newspapers such as ‘The Daily Mail’. The article headlined " Ex Secret report warns of migration meltdown in Britain. A massive rise in immigration next year could trigger a devastating crisis in Britain's schools, housing and welfare services, according to a secret Government report leaked to The Mail on Sunday.” is a fine example of this.