Our thriller - like all media products contains different representations of different locations or social groups.
I'm going to analyse and discuss them. I'll be focusing on regional identity and gender.
Regional Identity
The film was shot and set in the English countryside. The countryside is generally represented as being peaceful and tranquil with little noise or stress, as opposed to an inner-city area.
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| We purposely looked for attractive landscapes for these opening shots. |
When we filmed the establishing shots, we had to go to areas which were quite high up. Consequently, we ended up with some lovely pieces of film that had lots of wind noises (also Liam talked over one of the takes). We muted the audio and replaced it with a less loud and annoying wind track, which we recorded later that day. In the editing process, we decided to add some birds from a CD of stock sounds to create a more countryside-like ambience. The English countryside here is being represented as calm and tranquil. Comedy series, Doc Martin is an example of a real media product which represents the English countryside this way.
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| The car in this shot was positioned this way purposely. Here, I felt that it was important to include the woodland as much as possible. |
The other representation of the countryside in our product is isolation. The countryside is often represented in the media as being isolated and far away from any civilisation. This can be seen used to it's full effect in the fantastic American thriller, Deliverance.
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| "Squeal like a pig!" |
Gender
In several respects, our thriller portrays the roles of men and women in a very conventional way. The woman, plays a typical housewife. Her opening shot is of her, wearing and apron and chopping vegetables in the kitchen. In this respect, she completely conforms to the established cultural conventions. She does, however challenge them when she stabs the main character. The female is given a powerful role over the male character and behaves in a way which challenges the gender norms.
In several respects, our thriller portrays the roles of men and women in a very conventional way. The woman, plays a typical housewife. Her opening shot is of her, wearing and apron and chopping vegetables in the kitchen. In this respect, she completely conforms to the established cultural conventions. She does, however challenge them when she stabs the main character. The female is given a powerful role over the male character and behaves in a way which challenges the gender norms.
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| She is shown as being a typical housewife. |
Likewise, the male character also fits his conventions. He is dressed for practicality rather than aesthetic and he is shown to be taking part in a traditionally male activity - chopping wood. He is shown as coming home to his wife, suggesting that he is the breadwinner of the family.
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| Look at 'im chop. |
