Evaluation Question 2

 Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

(On the left: Thriller Film- The Call, Female Victim. On the right: My media Film- Hunted, Female Victim)

These are two characters who both play similar roles in thriller films. These characters both represent the social group of vulnerable teenage girls. The vulnerable teenage girl character is conventionally used in thriller films with the antagonist being an older male who wants to capture them or harm them in some way. This character type appeals to the target audience because many of the audience are teenagers so they can relate to the stereotypical lifestyle these young characters portray in thriller films.

Both the characters shown in the images above are dressed in clothes that represent stereo-typically how a teenage girl would dress. They are both dressed in jeans and jeans have connotations of a casual and laid back lifestyle, teenagers are known for wearing jeans when they dress informally in their everyday lives. Both the characters are carrying reasonably sized side bags indicating that they are going out somewhere or coming back from somewhere. The character in my film is returning home from school/sixth form, the character in the Call looks like she has just been out shopping or something along those lines. The character in my film has big curly hair which is unique. This unique style indicates possibly a slightly rebellious side to her, it shows her going against the normal way of doing things. The character in the Call has a fairly large side fringe which represents a mysterious personality and again not following the stereotypical mature style of dressing. Teenagers are known for going against what society perceives to be normal and breaking the rules from time to time and both characters are shown to do this very subtly by the way they style themselves.

The female character in my film is made to seem small and very vulnerable, she keeps getting the feeling that she is being followed and feels insecure about this. My character is alone in a quite and desolate location away from the public. It was filmed in the middle of the countryside so there wouldn't be many people there anyway. This builds up the tension for the audience because they know that the female character is alone and if something happens nobody will be able to help her. The character is shown to seem self conscious and worries when she is walking through this location. The field is completely deserted and so is the quiet rural road it leads on to. She feels as if she is being followed by someone but can do nothing apart from to keep walking away. The character from The Call is also in the isolated location of a quiet car park. Isolated locations add more tension to the film as it means the character feels alone with the antagonist and that there will be nobody around to save them when something happens. Almost empty car parks are conventional locations for thriller films as they give the antagonist lots of places to hide and lots of opportunity to creep up on the victim.

In both films the female character gets kidnapped by being dragged into the car of the antagonist. This narrative is common as the car allows the antagonist to drive away quickly and often to get away unnoticed because it looks normal. The social group both of these films portray are young females who are represented as not being able to defend themselves. These teenagers are perfect targets for the antagonist because they often travel to different places alone, and they are still quite young therefore they are portrayed as not fully being aware of the dangers they are at risk of. Teenage girls are sometimes displayed as being too naive and trusting of people they don't know properly. Both of the films show teenage girl characters who are naive and do not realise the danger the antagonist is to them until it is too late.

The character in the Call has the prop of a mobile phone, mobile phones are stereo-typically associated with teenagers. Teenagers are using their phones more and more to communicate with each others through social networking etc. Therefore this film is showing this stereotype by the way the character is speaking on her phone and is unaware of what is happening around her. She doesn't notice the antagonist in the car and carries on talking on the phone until it's too late, this shows her to be naive and unaware. The difference between the two characters is that the character in my film senses she is being watched/followed from very early on and tries to walk faster and even run away from whoever is watching her. However the character from the call is completely unaware and doesn't realise until it's too late for her to escape.