Main task character representation

How is my character being represented in terms of gender representations?

My character Lily Turner is a young woman who's occupation is dangerous but ambiguous. However at the beginning we are unaware of this, therefore the representation of gender changes throughout...

For example, in terms of Propp's theory we may view my character as the 'damsel' who needs to be saved by the hero, which is the general appearence at the beginning. She goes for a run and is captured by a man, I think that the physical appearence of the characters emphasises the idea of 'innocent, vulnerable woman' and 'strong, evil man'. Her language reflects this, for example she says "i'll tell you/give you anything for you to let me go." (which is a fake plea.) The audience are unaware of her ability to know where her partner is and the fact she knows that everything is going to be fine.

Do you display a 'typical' view of female representation?

This 'innocence' idea is obvious up until the end where it is revelealed that Lily and her partner in crime (who is also a woman) had planned to get the man in a certain, isolated place in order to kill him. I think that in many ways, my film defeats ideas of 'typical' gender representations in terms of a main female actress. Yes she is captured and ultimately saved, however courage is demonstrated as she goes through being captured and nearly killed in order to be a kind of 'bait' in the process.

There is a typical switch in power towards the end where Lily says' I dont need any weapons' and the man becomes panicked. This shows another side to her where she is absoloutely in control, demonstrating an indepth and multi layered character who is far from one dimensional. This is necessary in a thriller as 'simple' characters merely do not exist within them. I think over all the character Lily represents a positive female representation (despite being cold over a killing, although it is justifiable as he was willing to kill her) over a small amount of time. There is also another female who shoots the interrogating man from afar representing a strong character and an almost 'girl power' element. Another point is the fact that only the women are seen holding weapons in the film, which defeats many of the expectations also, as men are usually seen with guns.

Main task- Filming day- pictures

 

 

 

Today I filmed, here are some of the pictures. Some of the difficulties were that it was cold and windy, which meant the sound will not be as good qaulity as I had hoped, so dubbing may be required. 

However I got the footage I need, although I may have to re film one scene, although this will not affect the continuity as it is an extreme close up.. 

Main task- Actor Information

 

This is my female lead Philipa Ball. She is a student at the sixth form and is playing the character Lily. She is about 5ft 3in has brunette hair and is a petite build. She suits my character and the role, as she seems vulnerable enough to be captured and the fact she is in control of the situation throughout will suprise the audience, hopefully. After seeing her act previously in another students film I asked her and read through the script and she was happy with it.

My male lead is another student, Harry Alexander. He is approximately 6ft 2in, which, opposingly, makes him look much stronger and more frightening, however he is the vulnerable one at the end. He is also brunette. Harry has done acting as an enrichment course at our college and has previously acted in student films, so after running through the ideas and script he was happy to take part.

Pre Production- Location pictures

As my character is captured, an unknown and isolated place is where she would be taken. So I chose a run down shack in a field to give the isolation element.

My location is shown in my teaser poster

main task- Shooting and production schedule

pre production- clothes

I have sorted what the actors will be wearing for the shoot.
The woman will be wearing..

My actress will be wearing suitable clothing to run in. A thermal top, grey sweatshirt, gym trousers, trainers and a running band which is how she is located and tracked as her mobile is inside.

My actor will be wearing a plain suit to make his occupation ambiguous. It will consist of trousers, a white shirt and black suit jacket.

Main task- Storyboard

main task- Target Audience research

I conducted a survey consisting of a few questions to find out what age certificate my film should be and what I should include in it to make it a legitimate and interesting thriller.

Of a sample of 20 people, the majority said it should be age certificate 15. The general feed back was that because of the shooting and potential 'gore' it should be a fifteen. Only one person rated it 18.

I could not conduct an exact chart as such for my target audience research on the conventions so asked people individually for their own thoughts before highlighting certain words that continued to arise in conversation.

What are the conventions of a thriller in your opinion?

Owen- "I expect to see action and tension, I should always be kept on the edge of my seat. There would typically be blood and gore and sometimes murders."
Ruth- "A thriller is a chain of exciting events which keep the audience in suspense as the element of the 'unknown' is displayed. There is usually fast paced music."
Emily- "I expect to see relatable characters and an exciting storyline."
Tom- "I expect high octane tension with a complex yet understandable narrative, fitting soundtrack and interesting cinematography"

As my target audience is late teens and adults, I asked some of the 17/18 year olds in  my class what they would like and expect to see. After speaking to other media students, I recorded their opinions and highlighted the conventions which I thought could be 'doable' within my thriller.

Main task- Second and final draft of script