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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?



Alice                                                    Esther

A key character I have chosen to use in this evaluation is the main character in our thriller, Alice. We have chosen this character in particular as we feel that the similarities and differences between her and Esther from Orphan (2009) are clear and easy to identify.

The similarities between the two characters are based on the appearance, costume, the role in the film and representation.

The first similarity is based on the appearance of the characters. We can see that Alice is pale, looks gormless and her eyes are wide with pain and control. In addition, we can see that Esther also is pale and has similar features to Alice in the way they come across and in particular, their dark eyes and dark rings underneath them. However, for effect, we used dark make up for Alice to enhance the intended purpose for the character, as she needed to look unpleasant to get the message across.

Costume also plays a big part in identifying the characters as it shows a clear representation of what and who they are. In this case, Alice is wearing a school shirt showing in the picture above as this indicates she may be a young school girl with many problems to follow. This creates empathy as the audience will feel much closer to the character as she is so young and vulnerable. In contrast, in the specific picture displayed above, Esther seems to be wearing a low- cut top and also a ribbon is shown around her neck which may have some indication into the type of character she is in the film. This provides a huge contrast in characters, however, in other scenes throughout the film 'Orphan', is represented in a vulnerable way also and shows how her identity may be false or hidden in some way. This is shown by her pretty collared shirt and neatly done hair.

The role both characters play in the film are also similar as Alice plays the main antagonist in our film as she brings pain and distress into people's lives. Even though she may be young and her vulnerability is shown, Alice is clever but sly in the way she acts and uses her power as a young school girl to promote this. Esther also, is highly intelligent, manipulative, incredibly charming and lacks remorse. Both names, 'Alice' and 'Esther' have different hidden meanings to them. For example, 'Alice' was chosen to provide a sense of vulnerability and weakness as a young school girl. However, the name 'Esther' provides a more religious aspect as the name 'Esther' is biblical which adds to her character. These are the differences shown between characters as we can see that they both have very different interpretations for each film.

Due to us being sixteen year old girls, we chose Megan (Alice) as the main and atypical character as we felt that this would be the most effective and have a better impact on the audience. Normally, you would see a little girl as innocent, quiet and shy but in this case, she is a sly, cunning girl as she plans evil, possessive events on innocent victims. However, this could be an under-lying meaning of what her past was like and her cause of death.

In contrast, our new and updated character, Kayleigh, Alice's older sister is a typical, caring and loving bigger sister in this situation and provides a contrast between characters.