How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our film opening Unforgotten, is a contemporary thriller, with a modern, urban setting and features a number of social types, including a middle-aged mother who has lost her beloved daughter and a pre-teen daughter.
It is important for audiences to recognize ‘types’ in a film, particularly in a film opening, so that the narrative are quickly picked up. In our film the eldest daughter is a typical teenage girl, obsessed with boys, rebel, pretty, and always looking for something fun to do. She is our main stereotype in the film opening but she hasn't got the typical life after a certain event that happens.
Cara, the eldest daughter can be related to by other teenage girls her own age, some girls may want to be like her as she can be classed as cool and a rebel. The younger daughter, Emily is a sweet and shy girl who girls like her with the same personality can connect to, girls who are also lonely or looks up to someone would relate a lot to Emily.
Lastly mothers are often stereotyped as over-protective, affectionate and risk-averse. For example, in the television series In Plain Sight, about people who are taken into the Witness Protection programme, there are often distraught mothers who are left behind, unable to make contact with their children. Our mother figure is represented as a worried and over protective mother who wants to keep her children safe but also has secrets from her youngest which could change everything.
I have created a Pinterest board where I have collected images and representations of the social groups in my film opening. I have added analyses and descriptions in the comment box below the image. Please open my live link. HERE ON PINTEREST
In addition, we went to great lengths to develop our characters through a series of interviews in which we ‘hot seated’ our characters by devising interview questions, scripting responses and, finally, recorded the results. We drew on the advice of Pen Densham, author of Riding The Alligator and Oscar nominated film maker.
Here we tried to develop a deeper understanding of their characters to help the actors and motivating the characters choices or actions. We decided to do our character interview in the form of a WhatsApp conversation. By using WhatsApp as our example of an interview their youthful characters are re-enforced as they are using a modern social media platform. The conversation is between Emily (the youngest sister) and a close friend to attempts to comfort her, however she is met with an argumentative defence.
This rather cursory account does not adequately reflect the good work done, Megan. You write about the different character types in your production and you relate them, such as the mother figure, to TV programmes that you have investigated. You have researched, collated and commented on the social groups in your production using a Pinterest of some 10 images with captions. You have shown creativity in scripting 'interviews' with your characters and presenting the results using What's App, a platform that your characters would use. You should explain the inspiration for your 'hot seating'.
ReplyDeleteGood. The detail is now here. You explain the genesis of the idea for interviewing your characters.
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