Representation in our opening sequence

Representation in our opening sequence

In our opening sequence the main representation we focus on is gender, in many ways we convey the stereotypical representation of men and women; men being more dominant.However in some ways we have challenged these ideas.

                  

In our opening two minutes the main character is the man in our film, we portray him as very dominant compared to the woman, and we do this by the story line being the man keeping the woman hostage and not the other way round. We also support the idea that men are the more violent and strong gender as although we don’t show any fighting or arguing in the opening sequence, we make it clear that he has forcefully trapped her in the cellar to punish her. However one way we challenge the stereotypes of gender is by the woman being the unfaithful one whereas typically the man would be suspected as being disloyal. The camera angles will support the idea that men are more powerful as we will use a low-angle shot looking up at him to over exaggerate his height and dominance also showing he has control over his wife. Another representation of males is that they’re mysterious and have something to hide and we will show this firstly in camera angles and lighting where we won’t show his whole face until the end, hinting to the audience that he has something to hide, additionally his outfit will be black which is associated with mystery. In the opening sequence the audience can see that he feels emasculated by something that the wife has done, and our opening supports the idea that when a man feels emasculated he then has to then do something to get his masculinity back and prove a point that he’s still more powerful. On the other hand another challenge we include is a more sensitive side to him as an idea we have is to include a flash back voice in his head of an argument they had about the affair which could suggest that what she’s done is on his mind and is upsetting him more than he’s trying to show. Our film suggests a patriarchal society.

                  

On the other hand, the woman in our opening sequence will be represented as much less dominant as she’s being trapped and isn’t strong enough to get out. She supports the idea that woman are more scared than men and therefore weaker by the sound of her heavy breathing and her makeup being smudged showing she’s been crying in the cellar. Camera angles will be used to make her seem vulnerable and weak as we will use high angled shot looking down on her. We support the idea that men aren’t allowed to disobey men as she’s been unfaithful to him and now she has to be punished in a brutal way and suggests that if she’s not with her husband then she can’t have a relationship with anyone, whereas if a man cheated she wouldn’t have the strength to punish him in this way, making it seem okay for him but not for her. She is portrayed as a submissive character as she must obey him otherwise this is what happens. This character however challenges the idea that women obey their husbands at all times and we show her promiscuity through her costume which is a red top which is associated with love.

Planned by Freya, Jess, Robbie and Jack but written by Jess