Consideration Of Representation And Stereotypes

Consideration of representation and stereotypes

We have chosen the target audience for our film to be aimed predominantly at males, with females as our secondary concern. We believe our film would be most appropriate for an age group between 15 -24 due to the genre types – crime thriller and action, which are stereotypically more male orientated. From our research and general knowledge, we have learnt that films such as romances and rom-coms have a large female target audience, and the crime and thriller genres have a larger male target audience, however surprisingly the horror and action genres were more equal than we expected. We believe that our film would be better suited for the male audience because they would be more attracted to the stereotypical attractive female protagonist, as well as the action and crime aspects which help to create suspense. Similarly, we think a female audience would be attracted the crime and action as well as thriller aspects, but less so to the female protagonist.

We have tried to base our opening around the stereotypical conventions of our chosen genres rather than reality as much as we can as we know that these have worked previously and have high success rates. For this reason, the plot we have decided to use is very stereotypical to the crime thriller and action genres – for example the vulnerable, stereotypical attractive blonde female protagonist and an older, preying male antagonist. The locations in which we have chosen to use are also very stereotypical as they are isolated but picturesque, helping to build suspense within the audience as well as giving them an insight into what may happen, without giving too much away. The location in which we have chosen also allows us to use a wide variety of camera shots and angles which again, are stereotypical conventions of the genre. For example, we plan to use high angle shots in order to make the protagonist seem vulnerable, but also to use tracking shots from slightly obscured points, such as through the trees in order to suggest that she is being watched.

We chose our protagonist on the basis that we thought she would be easy to work with and fill the role successfully; however we were lucky that she also fitted the stereotypical appearance. We thought that using a young, attractive and blonde female would be beneficial as it would attract a wider audience (male) as well as making the film more realistic, providing reasoning behind the antagonist’s choice in abductee. We have decided to dress her again in stereotypical running clothes, again helping to enforce realism, as well as making it more relatable and more easily understood for the audience. For our use of editing, we have decided to cut between different scenes, which is something we found occurred often in our chosen genres. This is because it aids the audience with their understanding, allowing them to realise what is happening in different places which helps the plot to unravel. It is also effective in building tension and suspense as although different scenes are shown often, little is given away about the characters, helping to create enigmas and evoke emotion from the audience.

The protagonist could be seen as a stereotypical male thriving off the ability to capture these young females due to his appearance. The protagonist will have a full grown beard and creepy glasses dressed in smart clothing; this represents the stereotypical idea of a creepy, disturbed male. However people may disagree and claim that his appearance isn’t stereotypical because he isn’t of the alpha male kind who believes to have the ability to do such distressed and horrific things to a female. His body language and movements definitely fit in with the stereotypical view of a paedophilic male, the way he saunters round the house, touching and sniffing every belong which represents this female. The music will hopefully be synchronous with the stereotypical views of our film, because it will represent the creepy manor and slow paced shots through the deep music. A lot of point of view shots will hopefully be conveyed to help fit in with the stereotypical conventions of a crime and the way the antagonist observes every minor feature with fits in with his obsessions.