Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our product, all the individuals featured all fall into very similar representations. The ethnicity, social class and sexuality of the characters also follow into the same category, they are all white British and, although no job titles are given to the majority of the characters, all fall into the social classes of BC1.

The characters are all of a fairly young age (18-30) with the exception of the main character (Dawson) who is older (aged 36). By making Dawson aged 36 is very stereotypical, as most men who share the same occupation would be aged roughly the same, between 30 and 50. This follows the stereotype that, and suggests that, all private investigators are older men, which is not a new idea to be featured in a noir film, but is rather the same through nearly all detective films.

The ethnicity of the characters is also suggested throughout the opening, and can be seen to be a fairly stereotypical view. Every character is of a white British ethnicity, and from the costumes and occupations given, all the characters are shown to be middle class. This could suggest the idea that all white people are middle classed and, because of the neglection of using any other ethical backgrounds for characters, shows white people to be more dominant over other ethnicities.

The sexuality of most of the characters is never described or shown, but was to be all heterosexual, as this was the most common and popular sexuality during the time period our product is set in. The reason the characters come out to appear heterosexual can be due to how they are seen by the audience and what they see, such as the costumes the characters wear. None of the costumes worn by any of the characters follow any stereotypes that could suggest their sexuality to be any different. For example, all the men wear either a suit or a smart shirt and braces which, at the time was common of most men during the 1930’s. In addition, the women’s costumes are both a formal secretary looking dress, and the other, a more casual dress worn possibly for a night out. These costumes all follow the heterosexual clothing stereotypes, and do not include any items of clothing that could suggest any other sexuality.

Looking through our product, we found that some of our characters do fall into or could be argued as stereotypical. For example, the first female victim could be seen as weak, due to no indication that she wasn’t. This could possibly be seen as a stereotypical view on women, especially of women during the setting period, as there was nothing to say she had any chance of survival, but also the fact that there were two female victims and one male, could also show women as weaker or an easier target. However, the second, Samantha, was described in the narration by Dawson that she was a “fighter” and that she “had guts”. This goes completely against the previous gender stereotypes produced from the first female victim.

The location of the production would likely have an effect on the stereotypes seen in the opening, as the whole film takes place in a large city. This would mean there would be higher crime ratings meaning the murders shown would not be very uncommon. In addition, a large and rough city would also be more likely to produce rougher citizens, which could explain why Samantha was described as a fighter who could defend herself. Dawson’s character is the main one of the story and his social group is shown throughout the opening. From the clothes he wears, how he walks and behaves all show him to be more middle class, yet the location he is in, his occupation and how he talks could all show him to be slightly lower classed.

The way the characters are perceived is also affected by the technical aspects of the production, for example, the lighting, music/sound etc. Throughout the opening, with the exception of the interrogation, there is a soundtrack of jazz music in the background of the film. The fact the interrogation scene is exempt from the rest of the opening in terms of music, shows the murderer to be different from the other characters and makes the meeting between both characters seem more unnatural. However, in the rest of our opening, the music changes between separate tracks as the story progresses, including the transition from the first two victims, to the third. In this, the fact that the sound and lighting is different from the first murders, shows there to be a difference in the type of characters portrayed. The fact that Samantha’s crime scene is at night with a different track playing to the other two, will tell the audience something else about her character and that she was different from them.