alex foster evaluation question 2

7/31/2019 Alex Foster Evaluation Question 2

1/3

WE ALL FALL DOWN

Evaluation

Alex Foster


2/3

How does your media product represent particular

social groups?How have you represented Gender/ Class/ Ethnicity/ Profession?

Are these representations conventional or do they challenge the stereotype?

Connect to narrative theories.

MARY

Gender: Female

Class: Depends on who owns her

Ethnicity: N/A

Profession: Pure evil serial killer

The plastic doll, Mary, is a stereotypical Villain in Propps 8 Stock Characters theory. Although this typically

means a person who tries to prevent a hero from their good deeds, Mary challenges this in terms of a villain

also implying a person (or in this case, thing) that has a certain degree of evil within them which Mary has

throughoutwithout having to hinder a hero character. She is represented as a falsely innocent doll which

young girls would love to play with and be their friend. Her innocent faade is represented by her bright

blonde hair which typically represents being angelic and idyllic, and her light pink dress which represents her

female gender, as well as sweet seeming nature. The camera shots that she appears in are generally

establishing shots of Mollys bedroom at the tea-party scene. The fact that the camera is not completely focused

on Mary all of the time creates a sense of unease in our audience, who feel compelled to watch her throughout

regardless. She is portrayed at her most evil when the camera is canted and she gets up and starts walkingtowards the camerawhich is a symbol of the canted disruption that is to follow and proves the audiences

fears that she is a killer doll. In terms of editing, Marys character is presented as being a very old toy at least

40 years old, as she is shown to be sitting on shelves through different generations from 1961. The camera

quality of each shelf shot improves which represents her age. Our theme tune, a young girls voice singing Ring-

a-Ring-a-Roses, could be representing Mary, as it is left for interpretation whether Mary is singing it or not. The

sound Mary creates when she moves is a creaking noise, which is a convention of a Thriller/Horror film

however, usually creaking floors or doors as it is an unpleasant sound which provokes a fearful response in our

audience; it also represents her age as being a rather old, creaky doll.

(See Character and Narrative

for character comparison in

another film)


3/3

How have you represented Gender/ Class/ Ethnicity/ Profession?

Are these representations conventional or do they challenge the stereotype?

Connect to narrative theories.

MOLLY

Gender: Female

Class: Middle

Ethnicity: White

Profession: Primary School Student

Molly is a stereotypical angel, who is worried about and pitied in our opening sequence. Molly challenges

Propps 8 Stock Characters theory as, although she is an innocent and good-hearted child, she cannot be

classed as a hero because she is not a character that seeks something and also is not the protagonist of our

what-would-be overall film, as she inevitably dies in the opening sequence of the film. However, her innocence

and goodness are represented through many things. She has short, curly ginger hair which is endearing and

angelicwhich perhaps could challenge the stereotype of red hair meaning anger and evil e.g. Jack in

Lord of the Flies and Chucky from Childs Play. Perhaps since her hair is a blonde-ginger colour, this creates

more of a sense of innocence rather than a fiery red colour. The fact that she is wearing a school uniform also

shows her innocence and purity as audiences realise she is still only in primary school. The fact that the

video-camera is motionless whilst filming the tea-party scene creates suspense for the audience, as if theyre

sitting and watching in the room with them. Whilst having eyes on Mary, audience members watch Molly too,

as they dont want Mary to get her. Mollys childlike nature is presented in her constantly running out of the

room for different things e.g. the loo and is perhaps most presented when she knocks the video camera

over, which a child would do without being too bothered about picking it up again. The sounds Molly creates

are typical to a young child rushing out of the room, speaking happily etc. The editing used in our opening

sequence highlights her innocence, as her death is only heard over a blank screen showing her helplessness.

(See Character and Narrative

for character comparison in

another film)

alex foster evaluation question 2

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