Evaluation two -Representing Social Groups

Our thriller opening mainly represents women, and how powerful they can be, especially as in society men are normally seen more as the more strong and powerful gender. As in films the women are always the damsel in distress that need saving by the male hero, for example ‘The Princess Bride’ on countless occasions Princess Buttercup need’s to be saved by her lover Wesley, either from other men or from near death, which portrays her vulnerability and his power. The sword portrays his

power and protectiveness over the woman, how he will fight to save her.

Her scared body language and facial expression portrays her reliance on her lover, as she’s hiding behind him for protection, not willing to fight for herself – being a stereotype of a damsel in distress.

His body language is very protective, pushing her behind himself, being the hero and a shield.

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp suggested that within films there were 8 different types of characters, he based these on folk tales and legends from different countries as they were all very similar. 1. The Hero – Usually male, on a quest of some sort, the centre of the villain's attention.2. The villain – Opposes the hero and creates a disruption, which In our thriller opening

would be the mother.3. The donor – Helps the hero by giving them a tool (objective, information or advice)4. The dispatcher – Aids the hero on the task and helps the hero start off his quest.5. The false hero – Tempts the hero away from their challenge. May marry the princess in

the end and take all credit.6. The helper – Helps the hero.7. The princess – The ‘damsel in distress’ usually female and is the victim and has to be

saved by the hero, which in our thriller opening would be the son.8. Her father – Usually a king and rewards the hero for saving his daughter, normally by

giving her away for marriage.

However, in our thriller opening we have gone against these typical character stereotypes and have portrayed the woman (mother) with the power (villian), and the male as weak (damsel in distress). The mother is portrayed as very strong willed and motivated so she can be reunited with her son.

This point of view shot shows the mother searching ‘how to find my adopted son’ and forcing the audience to see exactly what she see’s. This portrays her desperation to get him back and starts to reveal what she would do to get him back.

The male is being portrayed as the weaker gender here, as he knows nothing about the stalking , obsession, or being adopted. This shot shows this as he doesn’t notice the woman staring at him and waiting by the school, portraying her power. At the end of the clip there is a snippet of the mother reaching out to touch him – this is where he’d be taken.

However, although we have challenged a stereotype and have made it a counter-stereotype by making the woman powerful. However, the woman also has a psychological problem, which portrays her as not being mentally stable and not being able to handle the situation of giving up her son properly, which makes her look mentally weak as well. However, as it’s a thriller this had to be done or there would be no storyline.

After sticking up a new picture of her son on the shrine, she strokes the picture. This portrays her creepy obsession, others could say it portrays her love and wanting her son back. It also shows it from her perspective as it’s meant to be shot from what she is seeing.

The audience is now forced to feel the anger of what the mother has for her son’s adoptive mother, because this is a point of view shot, so it makes the audience in a sense become the mother. It also shows her delusion and how dangerous she may be.

This is the real mother of Tim. Like most stalker’s she looks completely normal and fits into society well. Because she’s a middle aged adult, a stereotype would be that she is the stalker, as they have more knowledge and experience. However, because she’s a woman it would also be a counter – stereotype.

Tim is the son who get’s stalked by his birth mother without knowing. As he’s a male this would be considered a counter-stereotype, however, because he’s a teenager a typical stereotype has been formed that teenagers are more vulnerable to danger than adults are.