Evaluation Question 2 - How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups



THIS IS A WRITTEN VERSION OF MY VODCAST:

Our opening 2 minutes of a slasher film has many different aspects to represent particular social groups.

Jodi challenges stereotype

First of all, like alot of slasher films, BarnCasarn uses different stereotypes of character in the opening Of Tiny Terror. A general scream queen character would have blonde hair, busty physique, be sexually active, physically attractive and popular. We decided to challenge the stereotypce of a scream queen by using jodi, a teenage girl with brown curly hair (which is typical of a final girl, the countertype of what we were going for), mixed race, and in the opening, is not wearing any revealing clothing. We decided to do this to spice the slasher genre up and go against conventions. We thought that Jodi best fit the criteria for this. Jodi appears as a middle class girl, this is not denoted by her clothing, but by the setting of the house, as it is a middle class secluded looking house which reflects on her wealth.
Jodi does not have any real regional accent meaning it is unclear of where she is from, which can benefit us in a way that the audience will find it easy to relate to her as she can fit the form of any teenage girl. As Jodi is the first character that the audience sees, and is in most of the shots, she becomes the protagonist of the film. We did this to shock the audience when they see that she has been stabbed several times which will lead to death.

In Pyscho, Janet Leigh plays a scream queen named Marion. She was already a well known star, so the marketisation of the film was placed on her a lot to attract an audience to go and watch the film. However, they got a shock when, who they thought was the protagonist of the film, Marion, was killed off quite early on in the film. This was a very early start of the scream queen which was rarely heard of in the early 1960's. 
With Tiny Terror, we have tried to aim for this, by making Jodi out to be the protagonist of the film, who the audience will think that she will survive and become the heroine, yet is actually the first to be murdered. 

stereotypical scream queen

unstereotypical scream queen

In the opening, Jodi is not particularly dressed in the stereotypical scream queen attire, contrasting with scream queens, she has her body covered up (wearing a cardigan and leggings). This does not follow the conventions of a scream queen (wearing boob tubes and short skirts). Which would have made her appear to be more of a final girl, which we know is the opposite of what she is.

Jodi, The Scream Queen In Tiny Terror

Luke follows stereotype

When it came to the male in the opening, Barncasarn decided to live up to the stereotype of a jock like character. We used Luke Kenna who can be represented as physically attractive, tall, muscley and sporty. This portrays the stereotype of the jock like character well. 


We decided to use a stereotype of a jock because it contrasted with the fact that we went against the general conventions of a scream queen when picking Jodi. 

Some ways in which we made Lukes character Damien look a lot more jock like, is his clothing, for example his jogging bottoms, jumper and snapback hat all show representation of a sporty character. 

Steve Jock Character Scream

Another film which follows the convenitons of a jock like character is Steve from Scream, the scream queens boyfriend. He has a very small part, with no words, and only features in the opening, with his girlfriend. Damien is similar to him in that he only features in the opening, but different in that he has a speaking part, and he is not killed by the murderer in the opening, although he may be later on in the 90 minute film. But Steve is murdered before his scream queen girlfriend. In the film, Steve is wearing jock like attire like his jacket, and the scream queen provides exposition that he plays football, as she says "hes big and he plays football and he'll kick your ass!" 



In the opening of Tiny Terror, BarnCasarn used a binary opposite (in using one male and one female). Slasher movies usually have strong gender stereotypes (Final Girl and Scream Queen etc) With help of the mise en scene (teenage girls bedroom) we have made Jodi look like a typical Scream Queen and girly girl, and made Luke look like a sport loving social jock.




 BarnCasarn have put the bbfc rating of Tiny Terror at 15-24. 

BBFC's definition for a 15 rating is, to select a few different topics: 

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

I have specifically chosen these topics from the rated 15 BBFC, because the rest of film adding from Tiny Terror would most likely have most of these topics included. However, the opening does portray violence, connotations of sex, and horror. 

We decided not to rate the film an 18 (click here to see the definitions for BBFC rating 18) because we thought that Tiny Terror did not reflect on most of the bans from anybody under the age of under 18 (e.g. "any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault"

We also thought that if the rating of the film was an 18, our primary target audience would be too young to watch the film. 


We researched films that we thought were closest to Tiny Terror, these films being Childs Play, rated a 15 by BBFC, and Scream, also rated by BBFC at 15. This inspired us more to rate Tiny Terror a BBFC rating of 15. 

Cast members of the opening of Tiny Terror are aged 15 and 16, which goes along with the BBFC rating of 15, we thought that the age of the characters may attract the audience as they can relate to the teenagers as they are at the same stage in life. Which they could then perhaps put themselves in the teenagers shoes, and experience what the characters in the film are experiencing. 

Luke Kenna (Damien) is White Brittish and Jodi Harrison is mixed race. This makes the opening of Tiny Terror culturally diverse. This is a convention that is rarely seen in openings of slasher movies, however another horror/slasher film that challenges this convention is Nelson McCormicks Prom Night.

Both Characters (and cast) are boyfriend and girlfriend, meaning they are heterosexual. Homosexuals rarely appear in slasher movies, however, male killers are often gay, or are fascinated with homosexuality. there are very negative representations on homosexuality in horror movies. They are portrayed as being literally monstrous. One way in which the killer could be portrayed as being a homosexual in horror movies, is the phallic theory. When a killer stabs his victim who is male with a knife, he could be metaphorically raping him, which is almost a fantasy of a homosexual act. Also, the cast are not proffessional actors so putting them in any situation in which they are uncomfortable would be extremely demanding.

Social class and status are not well stated in the opening of Tiny Terror, however, the detatched house and the different rooms are shown which signify a middle class status, which is a general, well used convention in slasher movies (eg Psycho, Scream, Halloween)

All of the footage for Tiny Terror was shot in Yorkshire, and both cast members live in Yorkshire, however there is little regional identity shown for a number of reasons, some of them being: little outdoor scenery was shot, and the characters are not shown to have broad Yorkshire accents.