Our research into representation of social groups in media

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.