Evaluation Q2 How does your media product represent particular social groups? Lottie Fowler

Our first character is a 20 year old man who acts as a photographer to lure girls in by pretending to be from a modelling agency and then he ends up killing them. He is a split personality and is one minute a charming photographer, and the next a psychopathic murderer. He is seen as a bit of a ‘loser’ as he was bullied at school and now is very much alone with no family or friends. He is a typical psychotic killer you’d expect to find in a thriller film; mysterious, creepy and unpredictable. He doesn’t belong to any group of friends, as he was bullied a lot at school and decides he wants to be alone, so no one knows anything about him making him even more mysterious. He represents a psychotic individual who has turned out like this as a result of rejection and bullying, which is often the case for many psychotic characters in Thriller films.

In terms of mise-en-scene, I think we portrayed our character as a psychotic male successfully. For his modelling agent photographer side, he had slicked down hair to show he tried to make a good impression, as well as a suit to make him look smart, and also unsuspicious. The change of outfit which shows his split personality, is a hoodie which represents darkness. It adds an element of mystery to him and seems like he wants to be tucked away from the rest of the world. The fact that he is watching young school girls outside of a school reinforces to the audience that he is messed up in the head, possibly even a paedophile; suggesting danger, and also the thriller genre. The whole time throughout the opening title sequence, he does not smile once, but has a stern and sincere look on his face, therefore we do not know what he is thinking or feeling which makes him unpredictable. This also suggests to the audience he is an unhappy person and possibly disturbed; once again showing his mentally unfit state.

Our main character reflected other similar characters from other Thriller films that we studied. Firstly, we thought he reflected the character of Thomas, played by David Hemmings from ‘Blow-up’. He is a good comparison to our character because he is a young photographer who uses his charm and good looks to lure girls in, just like our character. He then starts to become obsessed with taking pictures of dead girls, which is very similar to our character as he has an obsessive side to him; showing his psychotic state. They are also very similar in the way of creepiness as they both watch girls in a very creepy way which is uncomfortable and somewhat disturbing for the audience to watch. The second character our character reflected was Seymour Parrish, played by Robin Williams in ‘One Hour Photo’. They are firstly very similar in they way that they are both lonely characters, with no family or friends, even though our character is a lot younger. He works in a supermarket on the photo developing counter, and soon becomes obsessed with one particular family with small children. This reflects our main character as it shows he also has an obsessive side; and also with girls younger than him. This also makes him seem very creepy, just like our character. Both characters are involved in modern photography and use this as a way to make people like them, which is another link between the 2 characters.

Our two other characters were 16 year old school girls. They are popular girls, who are seen to be ‘pretty’ and wear short skirts and a lot of make up. This shows them as typical teenagers, making them good targets for our psychopath. Location: We represented their age well by introducing them first walking out of school and going to a bus stop; showing they are not old enough to drive. Costume: They are wearing short skirts showing that they most probably do not follow the rules and are most likely ‘slutty’, which would make them popular in a school setting. They are wearing black school shoes, with a school skirt which also reinforces the fact that they are school girls and therefore the perfect target for the psychopath. Props: They are shown at the bus stop with make up, which shows they take pride in their appearance. This reinforces their age group as teenagers, as 16 year olds feel the need to fit in. Figure expression: The girls are giggling and chatting, which not only once again reinforces their age, but shows they are happy which is something our psychotic character never was and it infuriates him. They re-do their make up at the bus stop, which is not only a typical teenage thing to do, but makes them seem vein. This is something our main character hates, so it emphasises to the audience the fact that they are going to be main targets to the villain.