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Q2: How Does Your Media Product Represent Social Groups?

 

Our thriller opening represents our chosen social group of C2, which is young people and students that have psychographics of above 18. This is because; the film gives away, connotes and relates to several things in this target audience, which are students who are predominantly male.  These things include, guns, weapons, interesting environments such as the dark woods and intriguing props such as the watch, newspaper, shotgun shells and ropes to get the audiences minds working and guessing what all these items of interest imply with the relation to a thriller storyline or plot.

 

Key Characters and Similar ones from real works of thrillers

 

First Character – Myself

The only image of me in the whole thriller opening is me loading the gun magazine, there is no actual face or body shots apart from my shoulder, arm and both hands. If our thriller opening was going to be a feature length film, my character would be a police detective who is tasked with tracking down the falsely accused Conor Durrant, who is on the run whilst trying to prove his innocence. Since our thriller would be set sometime in the near future i.e 2025-2030, my character would be more of a violent style who us allowed to carry a gun and other tools that are more typically associated with American rather than British Police.  My character would, despite his gruff attitude and violent temper, would have personal reasons for being so, such as having experienced a tragic loss of a loved one or just has had a rough past. He would also be battling some kind of addition, i.e drugs or alcohol. The location involving my character was filmed under the spinney bridge, Bourne under natural daylight conditions. The bullet and magazine props are significant to the character because they reinforce the expertise with firearms and other weapons, and the fact that my character is prepared to kill and hurt other to get the job done.

 

Similar To: Max Payne (Max Payne Videogame Series)

My character in some ways would be very similar to the likes of Max Payne, a former Police Office turned vigilante against ruthless drug cartels, gangs and corrupt organisations. They would also have similar gritty personalities, such as having a short-tempers and aggressive mannerisms. They would also same the same expertise with firearms and other weapons, which they both use to deadly effect.  They are also similar because similar to my character, Max Payne is addicted to painkillers and is a recovering alcoholic who struggles with the loss of his wife and child, and seeks revenge against whose who wronged him and others close to him. The characters are also similar due to the fact that they both stand for those close and loyal to them, and both know their manners when needed. However, the stereotypical male is a person who is good and is not a ruffian unlike Max and my character, who push the boundaries of a hero protagonist as opposed to a villain protagonist.

The differences between the two characters motivations would be different, Max is looking to avenge whose who have been wronged by bad people whilst my character would be doing it purely to get out of a job he hates and make enough money to flee the country and retire early abroad.  Max has overall a lot less to lose than my character and doesn’t think twice before killing, whilst he has done bad acts to other bad people, he is not a truly evil person.  To contradict this, my character would not be a bad person but would not refuse to do questionable acts, such as robbery, extortion and corruption on a small scale. My character would also not have any problem taking drugs that aren’t prescription like Max’s, such as Cannabis, Cocaine and Meth. Finally may character would not turn down any offer to earn extra cash, such as being paid by criminals to turn a blind eye to a crime.

In terms of appearance, me and Max Payne would have a large age gap, with me being in my late twenties/early thirties whilst Max is easily forty-five to around fifty.  My character would also not be as heavily built or as stern and cold as Max is, with some dark humour included on occasion. Our costumes would be rather the same, with smart, slightly unkempt detective attire. The roles would be pretty much the same as they would both be protagonists with a questionable past behind them both, making it difficult for people to trust them.  Their status would both be the same as they are both Police detectives with Max’s differing slightly due to him abandoning the job to pursue his own goals. Their classes would be both the same as both are rather hard up and my character in particular fed up with his life of having to scrape by every month to pay the bills. However, my character would have had more education and displays more cunning and planning before carrying out investigations and actions, whilst Max, though not stupid, often recklessly rushes in to save people and kill others whilst injuring himself and causing unnecessary damage to places. The characters would both be of Caucasian ethnicity.

 

Second Character: Conor Durrant

 

The only full image of Conor’s face is from this wanted poster. The character would be a falsely accused person who is on the run from the police and a corrupt organisation due to mistakes that his family made in the past. Conor would be a former race car driver and part-time repossession man who is framed for the death of a rich foreign woman whilst she was visiting the UK. Now the British underworld want shim dead and whilst pursed by my character and other entities mentioned above, has to sleep rough and constantly travel around to avoid arrest whilst in the meantime trying to prove his innocence by hooking up with another good character, i.e. a private detective or a former lawyer.  The character, which is deep down a family man and a good person comes from a questionable family and is suffering the consequences of his ancestors mistakes. He also has to commit desperate acts to survive, such as holding up corner shops for money and food and kill bad people in the woods such as highwaymen and bandits to defend himself.  In a similar fashion to my character, he is on the verge of insanity due to the pressure caused by the whole ordeal and the acts he unwilling is forced to do just to survive. This tells me that stereotypical villains are usually evil, sadistic people who enjoy causing pain and suffering to others for the fun of it, such as Norman Bates from Psycho. Conor’s character would challenge these conventions due to him being underneath it all a victim who is played by people of power for their own benefit.

 

 

 

Similar To: Walter “Heisenberg” White (Breaking Bad)

Conor's character would have some similarities with Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White. The reason why is that they have both done questionable acts, including killing to survive. They also have families that they both love dearly and would do anything to protect them, including sacrificing themselves. The final similarity between the two is the fact that they are both in a sense on the run from the police, Conor due to his false arrest warrant and Walter for his evil acts and Meth manufacturing and distribution. They are also similar in terms of intelligence levels, with Walter being a former high school chemistry teacher and Conor having a degree, showing their levels of intelligence is above average.  This conflict with the typical conventions of a gangster as an uneducated, gun or knife wielding thug as opposed to clever, educated people like Conor and Walter.

However, there are far more differences between these two characters than there are similarities. Firstly, Walter is a far more evil and is a truly bad person compared to Conor, who is willing to murder and manipulate anyone and anything in order to advance his own profits and gains from peoples suffering. Walter also frequently commits immoral and violent acts when he doesn't need to, just for the pleasure of it and to make money, which is all he cares about. In addition, Conor would be a kind person who cares for people who help or are close to him, however, Walter shows complete disregard for the safety and wellbeing of others around him ,such as frequently sending his partner in crime to solve debts with rival drug dealers and selling drugs which ruins people’s lives.

Also, Walter has no problem murdering or seriously beating somebody for minor indiscretions, such as assaulting his lab assistant over who runs operations in his illicit business, whilst Conor would only kill or hurt somebody who truly deserves it or to simply defend himself. Conor is also an honest person who repays people who do good for him, whereas Walter constantly lies to people close to him, i.e his family and friends to cover up his acts and has no issue using people to his own ends, no matter the cost, showing his selfishness compared to Conor.

In terms of appearance, Conor and Walter would look vastly different, with the latter being much older and heavier built than Conor. Conor also does not look as aggressive as Walter due to his shaven head and beard which makes him look more thuggish and intimidating. They also would wear different clothes, Conor would wear warm, durable clothing to keep him warm and protected from the elements whilst on the run, whilst Walter wears the most expensive and tasteful clothing such as suits due to the mass wealth he has made from his drug empire. In terms of role, they are both protagonists but Walter falls into the villain category whilst Conor is more of a hero. Their status differs with Conor being a wanted person that is pursued by authorities and Walter being a feared, renown drug kingpin under the alias of "Heisenberg". The class differs greatly, with Conor being above average in terms of wealth and Walter being a multi-millionaire due to his success within the drug trade. Both characters would be of Caucasian ethnicity.