How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Throughout our thriller opening we cover the issue of grief, young adults, those who suffer with mental disorders and class. We wanted to make sure that we kept everything politically correct to ensure that what we were trying to convey was not offensive to viewers.The central topic of our work is Schizophrenia, by creating an accurate representation of young people suffering with this disorder we wanted to shed light on the fact not all previous depictions in previous films was true e.g sadistic, ignorant , lack of guilt and aggressive behaviour which similarly is linked to those who are Psychopaths. Prior to picking a disorder to focus on we looked at what was common within people of our own age (16-17) and found out that it was most common within people who are late teenagers and men.Although only 1% of a population has Schizophrenia over 250,000 cases in Britain since 2015 have been diagnosed. We wanted to give an indication to the audience that Lucas's character had a disorder of some sort by making him appear slightly restless and fidgeting. Lucas's exterior is presented as ordinary and almost relatable to the audience whilst the narrative and the make-up surrounding his eyes suggest something isn't normal leaving the audience to speculate. As well as this we made sure that Lucas lacked any empathy or remorse whilst visiting the grave to show that the way he is feeling is more intricate than to do with his disorder and the his lack of emotion is to do with how he is as a person. During the flashbacks a high angle shot of Lucas can be seen holding Ellie by the neck and almost "telling her off" displaying his immense frustration towards her, this reinforces the damsel in distress stereotype. 
Although he has the vulnerability of someone weaker his physicality gives him an advantage. Similarly our group took inspiration of this twist from the psychological thriller "Black Swan" - in which a women has an array of mental disorders that slowly begin to take over making her increasingly more vulnerable.

Consequently we have portrayed both males and females within our opening as a social group. As Lucas is the only male to feature in our opening it suggests to the audience he is perhaps a dominant figure however as the narrative beings you learn he is in fragile state due to being haunted by what happened on the night of Ellie's murder. The use of a button up shirt suggests he is  dressed smart casual showing he's put effort into his appearance to visit Ellie however the dark colour paired with dark jeans reflects his dominance of a male and his feelings towards Ellie. Lucas's role as the antagonist is unknown until the flashbacks  show him using his physicality to overpower and treat harshly. It is estimated that 70 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical violence in there lifetime. Portraying Lucas strong and aggressive reinforces Ellie being submissive. The use of camera angles also creates the illusion he's towering over whilst constantly belittling her character. Although both male and female characters in our media opening are presented as emotionally damaged and weaker, closer to the end of of our opening a female detective Lucy, can be seen analysing the case and growing frustrated at finding out what happened to Ellie.

By using a dominant female it goes against the stereotype as for the majority males are used and as although Lucy's a female she still retains a high social status due to her occupation which gives her authority. This similar use of female authority can be seen in the interrogation scene where Detective Rhonda Bhoney can be seen asking meticulous questions to see if Nick knows anything about his wife.


With regard to class, we have shown only two versions in which the two main characters are off a lower social class to our detective because of the authority and mental stability to complete her job.The ring seen on Lucy's middle finger could show the idea of her being financially stable yet and not married, indicating she's more focused on her job. This contrasts to Ellie and Lucas as both can be seen in dark clothing and no ring's showing they are perhaps less financially capable therefore leaving the audience to suggest the reason they are fighting is because of money troubles.