Representation of social groups
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The document discusses how different social groups are commonly represented in slasher films. It notes that teenagers, especially girls, often feature prominently. There are usually stereotypical characters like a dominant male who dies first, a "loved up" couple, and a weak female survivor. Male characters are generally portrayed as more confident but also ignorant. Social roles are established through techniques like camera work, sound, editing, and costume to convey traits like vulnerability, weakness, and dominance. The document concludes by outlining how two naive teenage boys will be portrayed in a project, with one overconfident boy leading to danger and his friend adopting the survivor role despite usually being female.
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Representation of social groups
- 1. J O E Y C A R A B I N I , C H A R L I E S M I T H , T O M G L A S G O W Representation of Social Groups
- 2. Teenagers Teenagers are the most commonly featured social group in slasher films. This is because teenagers stereotypically have a strict hierarchy which provides a variety of character types. In a group of teenagers in a slasher there is usually an over-confident dominant male character who will either act as the hero or ironically die first as a result of ignorance. There is often a ‘loved up’ couple who are the only characters who don’t become separated. When they are killed, this signifies the power of the killer. Another common stereotypical teenage character is the ‘primadonna’ girl. This is normally a pretty girl who is more concerned with how she looks than survival. This makes her highly vulnerable which builds suspense. However, this character is also often used to create humour. The most important teenage character in a slasher film is the lone survivor at the end. This character is nearly always a girl and generally the weakest character. As the sense of inevitable death looms, the shy and humble teenager will have a sudden surge of confidence and defeat the slasher against the odds.
- 3. Male Characters Male characters are expected to be tougher and more confident than female characters. However, with this confidence often comes ignorance and naivety. Dominant male characters always have a contrasting character who emphasises the strong male’s superiority. This will be either a female character or and more reserved male character. The equilibrium at the beginning of the film is used to establish character roles, e.g. the dominant male may be shown bullying the reserved male. As I stated previously, the strong male character will usually be the first to die or the hero at the end.
- 4. How they are represented Different social groups are often represented through mise- en-scene. The clothing of the characters is key as it portrays their characteristics and their confidence. For example, primadonna girl may wear revealing clothes to portray confidence, whilst the shy girl wears more plain clothes to stand out less. Camera work is used to represent the strong, weak, dominant and vulnerable characters. High angle shots connote weakness and vulnerability in the female characters and the reserved male characters, whilst low angle shots show the strong male as dominant. Sound is effective when reinforcing a character type already being portrayed through camerawork and mise-en-scene. Diegetic sound may include the tone of voice the characters adopt when talking. An example of this is that female character will often sound more scared than males when talking. Non-diegetic sound can be effective due to the pace, volume, fluidity, etc. of the backing tracks. The most influential part of editing when representing characters is the amount of screen time give to each individual character. A lot of screen time is often given to the heroic character throughout the film in order to build suspense for their actions at the end.
- 5. Our Representations We will be representing two teenage male characters in an isolated and dangerous situation. They are naïve and one boy is ignorantly confident and claims to know where they are. This leads them to a vulnerable situation in which one boy become isolated and is killed. The other boy then adopts the role of the survivor. Although this is usually a female role, he is made to appear weak when he is running away. This is emphasised when he trips and has to limp to cover.