PLANNING: CHARACTERS AND SOCIAL GROUPS

I used Mark Dixon's Media Theory for A Level to research stereotypes and discovered that they are universally deployed by the media. Stuart Hall states the 4 reasons why stereotypes are used by the media are as follows:

• To help audiences understand characters. Stereotypes act as a visual shortcut for the audience as they can instantly decode a character through the use of their body language, costume etc. 
• To help audiences build character relatability. Audience empathy, sympathy and antipathy are achieved quicker when stereotypes are used so it emotionally connects the audience faster. 
• To signpost audiences. Stereotypes help audiences gain a sense of the potential direction of the story. For example, the princess will find love, the hero will defeat evil etc.
• To reinforce genre expectation. All genres contain stock characters and audience's may be attracted to a movie due to these characters.

On the other hand, stereotyping can also be deemed as negative and dangerous. This is because it can create 'groups' who are identified through negative features and their 'otherness', together with the implication that the negative traits are 'natural' qualities. Examples of this are the stereotype that black men are naturally lawless or that blondes are dumb. This leads to what Stuart Hall calls 'power circularity', that is, the groups with power get to create the stereotypes and exclude other groups from the elite list. 

'When They See Us' and 'Legally Blonde' 
Examples of when these negative traits have been used in film

We analysed the different social groups and stereotypes that we wanted to include in our product so that they were recognisable to audiences. I used Pinterest to find various pictures that represented these social groups and created various boards so we could clearly see the contrasting styles and emulate them in our film opening. The social groups we researched consisted of  stalkers and sporty school girls. 

By researching these stereotypes, we were able to conclude that things associated with stalkers were cameras and photos as well as dark lighting and so when capturing the stalker in our film, we will make sure to use low-lit lighting and create lots of shadows to emphasise the eerie feeling and mystery. 

Our protagonist's main characteristic that we wanted to focus on was sports. We found the best ways to reinforce this would be through her clothing. Therefore, we will make sure that we choose our costumes wisely to fit the stereotype and will dress our actress in sportswear including clothing by well-known sports brands such as Nike.