How does your media product represent particular social groups

Tony the antagonist is a lower middle class character. This full body shot of him in the opening scene helps to express this by showing his home and his attire. The house is a well-kept suburban home, much like you'd expect of a middle class man, showing that he can afford to look after his home and he has got a bit of land to himself. He is not upper class as he would have more of an estate and he is not working class as he would have less of his own land. We decided to show him as a lower middle as he is then more relatable to a larger majority of the audience when he is shown as sane at the beginning of the sequence.

As there is only one character, there is no characters from other class rankings to compare him too. Meaning there is a negative absence of people of different social class standing, as we are uncertain of his intentions at the beginning.

Ants well kept house and supposed middle class standing has a culturally derived meaning that he is a fully functioning middle class citizen, which we later go on to find is not true, creating a false herring for the audience, and leading to a false sense of comfort

The cup of tea that ant has at the beginning of the of the opening scene helps develop him as a middle class character, as this is quite an apparent stereotype of middle class British people. Tea is usually associated with the higher categories of the British class system and is a symbol of relaxation and the famous ‘cuppa’ allows the audience to relate to him as it is an everyday thing

His outfit shows him as at ease, but ready for manual labour, which could lead the audience to thinking he is working class, however other elements show him as middle. We couldn't dress Tony much smarter as he is gardening, his wellingtons may make him seem more country gentleman than for example battered trainers. The work outfit is a very stereotypical feature of a male.

Class-Lower Middle Class

As Tonys character is mentally ill, the fact that he is a crazed killer is a residual ideology that negatively reflects mental illness, which contributes to people with such disabilities being marginalised, which is why ant is all alone and portrayed as an outcast. The size of the garden also helps to show the extent of his loneliness, as it is just him in quite a big open space, again showing him as isolated, as big houses usually host a family, rather than just individuals.

As the piece progresses certain actions and events allow the audience make a value judgement that Tony is mentally unstable and sadistic as an effect of his mental illness. Both screen shots are such examples of this...

The fact we have seen Tony suspend the noose from the tree is the first visual sign he is a sinister character. This rule of thirds shows Tony with the noose in the background, so we associate his character with barbaric killing. The noose is a symbol of punishment and brutality, due to it use in executions

The blood on the shirt on ant confirms that he is a murderous character, confirming that there is something sinister about his character, as everything else he has done thus far is just suspicious, and now he has committed an actual misdeed.

Mental illness

Gender

One progressive ideology displayed in our piece is that the victim is a male which strays from the conventional horror which usually features a female protagonist, as they are usually seen as innocent and unable to protect themselves. This rejects patriarchal society and shows women to be on par with men even though they are not physically represented in the sequence. And the character that reflects them is not shown either.

Ant is represented as quite a masculine character. The fact that he is originally shown as a gardener shows him to be doing what is seen in society as man's work, this is a dominant ideology as it is heavily represented in today's society. He is dressed very muscularly in a vest and a tracksuit, showing him as a strong character and ready to work. The axe used by Ant can be referred to as a Phallic symbol, as it expresses his masculinity and makes him seem more manly than if he was using another, less big and opposing weapon

There is a binary opposite between the good character and Tony, who is the representative of bad. The bad character is shown as strong whereas the good character is displayed as weak and helpless, despite us not physically seeing him, we can tell he is restrained and there fore defenceless