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

Representation was an important factor in constructing our sequence; we needed our characters to be recognisable, but fresh. Therefore we researched different films to help influence the characters in our sequence. 

Our approach to gender representation differs from more typical action films:

The leading character is often an alpha-male character
In action films, it is common for a protagonist to be a smooth, handsome man with a clear objective and a bit of an attitude.

We decided that making our hero a male character was necessary in order to make him recognisable as an action lead character. Classic hit films such as Die Hard, The Terminator and Indiana Jones are films with alpha-male lead characters that have been extremely influential in the development of action films of the last 30 years, with many recent films such as Whitehouse Down and The Equalizer solidifying this role. These characters are often depicted as middle-class adults.


However, we also believed that we needed to separate our main character from this alpha-male representation. Blake's fiancé has been kidnapped, which is the reason for his cold exterior; he does not take the same approach to killing as characters such as staple action characters like James Bond and John McClane.













The female lead is sexualised, or acts as a love-interest for the male lead 
Unfortunately, it is uncommon for women to be represented as strong, fearless and hardened. Although there are characters who are depicted more positively such as Lara Croft, they are still sexualised to appeal to a male audience.

A study by the BFI shows that some of the films with the largest male audience released in 2013 were Man of Steel and Star Trek: Into Darkness. Both of these films had a relationship between the main character and a female love interest. Most of these depictions show women in their 20s or 30s.

With our film opening, we wanted to discard this conventional representation of women when designing our characters. Jen is depicted as tough through her costume and actions, whilst avoiding any unnecessary sexualisation. She does not allow Blake to control their conversation and refuses to show any hesitation when shooting the thugs. Furthermore, we establish that Blake is searching for his fiancé, which removes the possibility of her becoming a love interest.