During the process of planning, filming and editing we chose to present the social groups of age and gender in a specific way through the use of mise en scene, camera work, editing and sound. Our media product both developed and challenged the conventions of a psychological thriller.

Through camera work and various shots we were able to create a powerful in balance between the antagonist and the protagonists. The use of high angle shots though the window at the beginning of our opening demonstrates the strength and power of the antagonist over the female protagonists, who are represented as vulnerable and exposed. This is a convention of a psychological thriller as women in these types of films are typically shown as weak. This is projected throughout where low angles showing the male antagonist are used during the montage. For example, the end of the montage scene where the final shot frames the antagonist descending the stairs so the camera shows him in an elevated position. Through this we were able to connotation and represent him as dangerous, dominant and devious. We continued this representation by multiple extreme close up shots of the antagonist. We show his hands, feet and the back of him but chose never to show his face. This dehumanises him and makes him appear more deadly as he is shown to the audience as not a person but just a figure. This also makes the viewers regard these traits to the male gender as the antagonist is not shown as an individual but as a representation of man.

Our editing focuses on making the girls represented as vulnerable and defenceless. For example, during the narrative scene we make shots linger on the protagonists. This suggests to the viewer that the antagonist is watching. This male gaze represents females as victimised as they are unaware and exposed. The male gaze suggests he is prowling on the protagonists which according to the male gaze theory would suggest that men are predatory. Within the montage scene, quick cuts are used to show the antagonists sporadic nature which highlights his instability. However, it also could arguably present him as weak as he is not fully in control. In addition, the editing technique we used of superimposition highlights the loss of control by the male antagonist as it shows him being hectic and messy, which represents his metal state because of the girls. Finally, the use of the black and white shots re-addresses the power imbalance. Because the girls are not shown in colour and are shown with ‘noise’ they are portrayed as less important than the male. This is similarly shown in modern films where the female is suggested to be less important than men. In addition, these shots also reinforce to the viewers tension as lack of colour suggest danger towards the girls, this is because it can be connoted as weakness and exposure.

We used sound in order to portray our social groups further. We used a quiet setting to introduce the girls, using ambient sounds such as soft wind, birds and traffic. This shows them as innocent which contrasts to the way that we portray the antagonist. The score we chose to use was an industrial track which included particularly aggressive sound which again, associates the male with instability and danger.

Finally, our mise en scene helped us to show the protagonists as being delicate and young. The costumes that we chose for the girls included calming colours such as soft greys, blues and blacks. Through this we could emphasize their femininity and youth. Props were made to signify their young age; we used mugs with animals, flowers and cartoons on them. This make the audience feel less comfortable knowing that they were being victimised. The young age is later implied during the montage where we used a picture of the girls within a group photo at school. This contrasts all of the mise en scene put in place to infer the age of the antagonist. We used props such as alcohol in a glass to reinforce his age. This has connotations with masculinity; especially older men which put emphasis on the age difference between the characters. This is also highlighted by the shots in the montage where the antagonist is using Vaseline, though not clearly stated, it shows the antagonists sexual fixation on young girls and leads the audience to see the antagonist as a sexual predator (as suggested by ‘male gaze theory’). This has upsetting and disturbing connotations of violence and danger. The knife that is shown in the montage shows the angry and violent nature of the antagonist, traits that are commonly linked with males in the thriller genre.