How does your media product represent particular social groups
1. How does your media product
represent particular social
groups?
April Carr
2. Young People:
• Young people are represented as careless within the first 5 minutes of
our film ‘Z-bola’. The first ‘zombie’ the audience is introduced to as
the outbreak starts is a young male. By choosing the first ‘zombie’
character to be young it symbolises that young people are reckless
and unsafe, therefore infected first.
• The character is represented as young through the costume of skinny
jeans and a band shirt, stereotypically young attire.
3. Women:
• In association to generic horror conventions women are represented
as innocent within our film clip. This is highlighted through the use of
mise en scene, specifically lighting, within the clip. Melissa, our
female character, is shown in high key, white lighting. This emphasises
her innocence and allows he to appear as a character needing
protection.
4. Women:
• Women are further seen as weak within the clip. This is conveyed
through the female character sitting back and being protected by the
male. Whilst her boyfriend is being attacked Melissa sits back and
allows him to fight for her protection.
5. Men:
• Contrasting to women, men are represented as the dominating
gender, with a dangerous side. This is conveyed through the use of
low-key lighting and a back light. This allows the audience to assume
that our male character is slightly dangerous and vindictive.
6. Men:
• It is also the male within the clip who fights the ‘zombie’ in order to
protect himself and his girlfriend. This connotes that males are the
protectors within our clip. This follows generic horror conventions.
7. Men:
• Despite men being conveyed as superior and strong they are also
represented as unintelligent. For example the first ‘zombie’ was a
male. This suggests that males within the film follow a more
aggressive approach towards danger, instead of escaping they would
rather take an unintelligent risk and fight, risking their lives. This
subverts gender stereotypes.
8. • Overall we use stereotypes within our clip to our advantage when
creating characters. However as the film progresses the main
protagonist would be a female, also represented as the final girl who
survives against all odds. This contrasts horror conventions however
does follow Clover’s final girl theory.