HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT

PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ?

Representations we planned to communicate

The representations we communicate in Justice are fairly stereotypical to the thriller genre. We have explored Vladimir Propp’s narrative theory when devising our characters; the character of Lucy Baldwin conveys the ‘princess’ role of his theory, Kyle Baldwin the ‘hero’ and Matthew Drake the ‘villain’. It is a common convention in the thriller genre for the female characters to be rescued by the male heroes, as cinema has progressed alongside the upraise of feminists, narratives have transformed to display women in a more superior light. A lucid example of this is Clarice Starling in Silence of the lambs. It is also common in the neighbouring genre of horror, Laurie in Halloween and Sidney Prescott in Scream...

Justice obtains the typical character conventions. The two contrasting protagonist roles being played by

men, the ‘hero’ and the ‘villain’...

The character structure in our thriller is almost identical to that of David Fincher’s Se7en ; the psychotic killer is a mature male, the heroes male and the ‘damsel in distress’ a younger female.

However in Justice the female character is younger, this aids our younger target audience of teenagers to relate to onscreen characters.

The fact that there is only one major hero character in our narrative helps to convey the convention of the ‘transformed city’ as Kyle Baldwin’s life is dramatically transformed into a race against time to save his beloved daughter. It also generates audience sympathy for his character.

Representation of men in Justice

Men are represented in a harshly contrasting light in our thriller film; they are displayed at the source of all conflict. It is due to the male characters that equilibrium has been disturbed.

The narrative suggests that men are both intelligent and controlling, this is displayed through the psychotic antagonist character of Matthew Drake, he reflects the iconic character of Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho with his twisted actions, also Kevin Spacey’s character of John Doe with his cleverly planned methods.

Males are strongly portrayed as the more superior figure over females in the film.

Representation of women in Justice

In contrast to male characters in Justice, women are seen more inferior in the narrative.

They are illustrated as a tool in a man’s world, as Drake is using Lucy as a threat and a way to grasp revenge.

It is common in thriller films, however more horror and slasher subgenres, for women to express a sexual element in the film; usually through some form of nudity. However we avoid this convention.

Women are definitely illustrated as both physically weak and helpless in Justice, as Lucy fails to escape the physical ‘mazes and labyrinths’ she finds herself encaged in throughout the film.

Gary Byrne We casted Gary Byrne for the part of Kyle Baldwin for many reasons. One being that he is physically very fit in order to capture the highly active running scenes throughout the opening sequence.

He also has a friendly, casual image; this is effective in helping the audience relate to him as a character and therefore sympathising with him. It also aids in conveying the thriller convention of ‘the transformed city’.

His vibrant, fashionable dress sense is attractive to the younger generation target audience.

His look is highly contrasting to the more sinister character of Matthew Drake.

Rebekah McLaughlinRebekah is perfect for the character of Lucy Baldwin due to her petite figure, her restricted height makes the room seem much more of an obstacle to conquer.

Her figure and fresh face also make her look much younger than her actual age of 17 and therefore more venerable and helpless.

Her casual dress sense reinforces the concept of her being an ordinary young girl caught up in an extraordinary ordeal.

She has the similar naive aura as Hollywood actress Dakota Fanning.

James Rowland

James Rowland has a much rougher appearance compared to Gary. Reflecting his antagonist role.

His shaved head makes him appear more sinister and also reflects John Doe in Se7en.

He is dressed from head to toe in black, this can be interpreted to convey the convention of ‘partial vision’, to add to this the colour black having connotations of evil.