How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my film opening I have used a male as the murderer as this is a general gender stereotype. Progressing on this stereotype, I have used women as the victims. This is because the audience would more likely relate and understand whats going on if the conventions are followed. For example, it is clear from the dark clothing at the beginning that the man is the murderer. This gives a positive and negative outlook on females as they are the innocent ones but end up getting murdered. It provides a negative stereotype on males as they are seen to be associated with negative behaviour and dominance. However, the police officer is a woman and this does go against stereotypes. This is because police officers in media products are generally male as they generally connote more stronger, powerful characteristics. By using a woman, it challenges these stereotypes and becomes a countertype, as its a woman who is overpowering not just the male character but the murderer. It doesnt become confusing for the audience because the police officer has a distinctive outfit that makes it obvious who she is.

In terms of age, there arent any very young characters or any really old characters. This means they fall within the age range of around 16-45, allowing the target audience to be able to relate and become more engaged. However, these ages did not come from thinking and were more about the actors and actresses available. I wanted to use a man that was fairly middle-aged as the murderer because anything younger or older would have looked silly and it wasnt supposed to come across as a comedy. The news reporter is however quite young which probably isnt practical but its fairly clear the role she is playing and she plays it in a mature way. I wanted the victims to be innocent and fragile women in order to allow sympathetic feelings from the audience. This aim was accomplished as both the victims were innocent looking, just living their everyday lives.

In the opening of my film, all of the characters are from a white ethnic background. This is because I have mentioned that the murderer had escaped from Leyhill prison and the murders had taken place in Gloucestershire. As this is a very rural area, stereotypically the area would not be as ethnically diverse as perhaps urban areas. Later on in the film, the murderer would go on to chase down the jury members that had pleaded him guilty. This would involve a few quick murders that would have happened in the local area as some of the jury members would not have wanted to move. However, the less victims left, the harder they would be to find. This means he would end up visiting several countries trying to hunt them down allowing more ethnic groups to be displayed and represented.