Evaluation Part 2 - Media
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The document discusses the representation of women in the horror film "Penance" and other horror films. It notes that the protagonist in "Penance" follows conventions by being a teenage girl described as closed-minded and stubborn. It establishes this early on to give the audience a familiar genre and formula. Several shots are described that show the female protagonist in helpless, submissive positions compared to male figures. However, a later scene depicts modern female characters as equal and different. The document also discusses the frequent use of teenage female victims and the "young woman in distress" convention in other horror films like "Scream" as well as paranormal films. The cast in the discussed film speaks with northern accents, unlike typical American or
Evaluation Part 2 - Media
- 2. + Representation of women As in many horror films the protagonist in “Penance” is a young girl in her teens with a small group of friends. In her character profiles she is described as “Closed- minded, tries to act older than the rest of the people in her friend group. Can often be quite stubborn, likes to be in charge and doesn't like doing what other people tell her to do.” This very much keeps to the conventions of the protagonists (and often victims) of other horror films. In keeping with the conventional paradigm of young girls in horror movies, we established quickly to the audience the genre of the film and the formula it was likely to follow. This was to give the audience a sense of familiarity in watching the film.
- 3. + This shot shows the female on the floor with the male figure standing over her. She is shown to be in a submissive position while the male is in a position of power. Her helplessness shows the balance of power to be in favour of the man.
- 4. + The aerial view of the girl lying on the floor was again to show her helplessness, and also to show the scene to be a flashback as the audience is looking down at the girl after this has happened.
- 5. + The present day scene puts the three female characters on the same level as the audience, and all three are in an equal position of power. There characters are represented in this shot as being very different. One looking enthusiastic with the others appearing disbelieving or bored. This contrasts the helpless girl on her own in the past with the girls of the present
- 6. + Similar films with a female stereotype “Scream” is one of several horror/slasher films in which a group of older teenagers find themselves being picked off by an anonymous killer. It was a later film using this formula (released in 1996), but became a staple of the horror genre in the way that it took the stereotypes and conventions of earlier slasher movies and heightened them. Many horror films that followed took this idea and creating different versions of the story.
- 7. + The “young woman in distress” convention is not just reserved for teen slasher movies in the horror genre. Films such as ours, (featuring a paranormal, “haunting” aspect can also feature a younger female character. However, these characters tend to be slightly more sympathetic and relatable to a wider audience.
- 8. + Representation of young people The cast of our film, as in other horror films, is female and of the ages of 16-17. They are shown to be “average” teenagers, (telling each other ghost stories, hanging out at the park), and not particularly representative of one social group.
- 9. + All of the girls in the film speak in fairly colloquial terms not particularly connotative of a specific area or class of people; the only thing unusual about the way that the cast speaks is the fact that all have Northern accents (this being a Northern production), this is not in keeping with the conventions of other horror films of this time, which are generally set in America, or even other British films which tend to be Southern based.