Question 2: How does your

media product represent

particular social groups?

By Connor Southwell
How does our thriller represent
social groups?
In our thriller, we use a variety of social groups. Predominately, our
representations are simplistic as they are easily identifiable for our audience as
to who belongs to what social group. Our representation of Tom Rush, the films
antagonist is portrayed in a certain way to ensure he conforms to stereotype
but also was inspired by stereotypes to increase the dramatic element of the
opening of our thriller. The audience are positioned quite distanced from both
characters due to the factors are play here (mental illness, stereotype, age etc.)
and characters are distanced from the audience as they in society. There are
strands of both characters which are realistic (such as the battle against mental
illness, and the increasing numbers of young people in gangs is also an issue)
and some are stylised for dramatic effect. We have attempted to balance issues
with drama to create a diverse and engaging film for our target audience (15-
23) so there is a reliability with in our film.
Stereotypes
Tom Rushs character is a regressive attitude on
teenagers, and he stereotypically conforms to the
stereotype of young British youths who are perceived as
drug taking, alcohol drinking and sex obsessed violents, a
stereotype that has been present since the 1950s. We
decided to coincide with this stereotype to show how
regressive it is, but also so its easily identifiable as a
white British youth who is taking advantage of a
vulnerable and scared character in Josh Masterson, who
suffers from his own issues. We drew inspiration from
negative press headlines like the ones shown above. This
 James Cook from
Stereotypes: continued Skins, whom we
based the
character of Tom
Rush from.
How did we present Tom Rush in a stereotypical way? Firstly, we used costume to conform to
this stereotype previously discussed. Rushs character is seen to wear a hoodie and jeans,
with trainers by Nike. This matches many older generation views to youthful people. In
terms of sound, Rushs character is always someone who introduces a underscore which
builds tension, for example, in the garage scene, Rush closes the door which creates a
tension that is felt by the audience as to Rushs character due to him conforming to the
gender. Also, the camerawork helps us perceive Rush as a dangerous youth who is, for a
reason as yet unknown, wants the blood of Masterson. In not showing his face, we are
creating several connotations. Firstly, it is questioning if he actually exists, as Masterson
suffers from a mental illness so could be a figment of his imagination or if he is actually a
human. Also, his lack of face being shown in the opening sequence is metaphorical of his
lack of identity and self consciousness he feels which he hides behind his stereotype to
protect. Inter textually, the character of Tom Rush is based on the juvenile delinquent of
James Cook in Skins, as he is a youthful, stereotypical character who conforms to post 1950
opinions on youth. We took inspiration for Tom's character and costume from the character
'Pest' from the film 'Attack the Block'
 Josh Masterson, the main
character of the film is of a
Age young age, the use of close
up lets the audience build a
relationship with him
Our film aims to capture the difficulties and complexity of life in Britain for younger people. Issues such as the
lack of support for mental illness and gangs. In our film, we have two characters who are similar in age but
with differing personalities. Tom Rush is a character who is clearly destructive in attitudes and suits the role of
a juvenile delinquent, whereas the personality of Josh Masterson is a binary opposite. Masterson isnt
destructive and is perhaps more vulnerable than Rush is due to the mental illness that causes confusion. We
have shown that regressive attitudes on teenagers arent fully accurate and prove to older generations that
there are differing personalities and even teens are vulnerable. Due to the actors being similar in age to the
characters, we were able to use personal experience in our thriller opening which creates more of an
emotional connection with the audience. In our thriller opening sequence, the character of Tom Rush is
definitely perceived as more powerful than Josh Masterson. This is mainly achieved through the powerful and
strong body language displayed throughout the sequence, for example, the assertive walking and heavy
breathing of Masterson creates a tension which also creates a switch in power as there is evidently a fear of
Rush, so its a power in the same age demographic due to the destructive and violent potential of Rushs
demeanour. On the other hand, Masterson is perceived as weak due to his frantic movement and panicked
expression presents the idea of danger and that connotes weakness. The audience are positioned neutrally at
the beginning of our thriller as we want them to draw their own conclusions, however, the lack of intimacy
with Tom Rush alienates the audience from connecting with him, and automatically the audience recognise
the vulnerabilty of Josh Masterson character. Age is an important social group for us to channel into our film.
 Leonardo Di Caprio in Shutter Island. His
character Teddy Daniels shaped how we
portrayed Josh Masterson.

Mental Illness
Erratic, frantic movements that
display Mastersons schizophrenia.

Josh Masterson suffers from schizophrenia, and with concerns over mental health care in the UK
increasing, in our film, we have decided to portray Masterson in this way to replicate how difficult
it is for people with mental health issues in the UK. We drew inspiration and knowledge of
schizophrenia from articles such as this one on The Guardian. https://
www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/13/schizophrenia-and-a-damaging-blame-game . Mental
health is something ignored by society due to the complexity of it, often people dont believe
what they dont understand. It creates a vulnerability and characterises Masterson so the
audience immediately relate to him and understand the struggle he is facing. Commonly, most
males become ill between 16 and 25 years old due to mental effects caused by a bad pregnancy
or childhood from their mothers. We decided to show this through frantic movements, flashbacks
and fast paced editing to show the insecurity and difficulty of his mindset. The audience are
immersed in his identity through the use of close ups, and his hood shows how he is shadowed
and alienated from society due to his illness. We also studied schizophrenia has been used in
films, and used films such as The Snake Pit and Shutter Island as they contain characters which
have mental instabilities and how we can portray Masterson correctly and raise awareness for a
condition that 2.2 million people suffer from in the United States.
Are our representations typical of
the genre?
In psychological thriller, often characters are troubled or challenged in
several ways, and mental illness gives the film intrigue and thus we are
conforming to the genre in terms of characters. Later on in the film, wed
reveal a femme fatale who has caused the witchhunt for Masterson
character, whilst retaining the psychological element. This would achieved
by using her sex appeal to undermine the character of Masterson whilst
making him seem weaker. Also, the stereotype of Tom Rush is regressive
to media stereotypes of violent youths, to challenge this, the simplicity of
costume and normality of costume challenges the regressive approach on
teenagers and offers an alternative view. The representation of age
challenges the conventions of psychological thrillers as conventionally,
they tend to middle aged characters suffering with problems, whereas our
characters are much younger due to a younger age demographic.