Evaluation of Representation

 

Our Male Representations

 

• Our film was purposely created to follow the conventions of a classic zombie horror film. Genre and representation are linked as formulaic genres such as ours use a limited number of character roles.

• A stereotypical zombie horror film is based around a group of friend and one then will go missing, and most likely end up dying. One example of this is 'Shaun of the Dead'.

• In conventional zombie  films, there is always one location that the main characters can return to as it is a place of safety, it is evident that this is the garden area for the boys.

• The personality of each character in our film is similar to those in other zombie horror films.

• The first character we see is Conor. From his clumsy attempts at football, he is the weak one, the outsider.

Missed kick annoys the other boys

• David is the leader (active, decisive, not always kind), mostly represented through dialogue. Rafi is the nerd (glasses, book), represented through props.

 

Leader and nerd

• The initial victims (princesses) are two young boys. They are first seen walking in a wood. Their age makes them vulnerable. Their role is represented through casting and the location - the quiet wood has connotations of threat and danger.

 

Vulnerable children


• Conor C is the impatient man of action who does not always think things through. This is shown through facial expressions when he does not save a goal.

 

 

Frustrated facial expression



• I played the zombie killer, the father figure the rest of the cast learn from.

• Thanks to the element of costume in mise-en-scène, it is easy to tell who the superior member of the cast is. From the suit I was wearing I was portrayed as the elder, wiser and more experienced / knowledgeable character.

• The boys were forced to look up to me as I was the one who saved them; this is ironic as they literally did look up to me because I was the tallest character. The remaining boys were clothed in stereotypical teenager clothes, jeans and tracksuits.

 

Suit and serious expression

 

Issues around Representation

• In the opening of our film, we are only introduced to a male cast.  Therefore the archetypal roles Propp identifies have to be taken by men.  This is often the case with an all male cast.
• Coward suggests that the roles of men in media fall under four different points. They are:

• They must triumph over others and void defeat.
• They will interact and bond with other males.
• A romantic interest will be the cause of the pursuit
• Each character will seek approval from a father figure

• Coward explains that the male stereotypes are as narrowing and limited as those are for female roles. To link two theories together, Pickering suggests that stereotyping can be damaging to the social group and reinforces limited roles.  
• The first role Coward suggests isn’t evident in our extract. However, we had planned later in the film that the boys would fight and survive other zombies.

• Our father figure in the extract was I. It is evident that without my character, the boys would have fallen victim to the zombie. I would then progress in teaching them the ways to go about killing and surviving against the zombies.

• We also planned that one of the boys would reveal that he has a girlfriend that has been missing for several days.

• The group would bond over her rescue.

• This therefore suggests that we have used all the stereotypical and limited roles that are mentioned in Cowards theory. This could be a problem as it limits the roles of males in real life and when they cannot perform to these stereotypes, their image may be harmed.

• On the other hand it was appropriate to use these stereotypes as it allowed use to tell the story of the film easier and a lot better.

• It is also interesting that roles change through the film. Conor begins as the weak one, the victim, but becomes the villain when he is changed into a zombie and has more power.

The zombie villain

• David begins as the leader, but faced with his first zombie, runs away with the rest of the group, all of them becoming the weak victim.

Running away

• Because of the largely male cast, there is a broader range of roles than Coward suggests and these change as the film progresses, creating a variety of competing male representations.

• However, we have drawn heavily on stereotypes and ultimately all the male characters aspire to victory over the zombies so the representations are limited in this way. However, this is dictated by genre and most audiences do not take zombie films seriously.