I used Mark Dixon's Media Theory for A Level to research stereotypes and discovered that they are universally deployed by the media.
Stuart Hall states the 4 reasons why stereotypes are helpful and used in the media:
- To help audiences understand the characters. Stereotypes act as a visual shortcut for the audience as they can instantly decode a character through the use of their body language, costume, etc.
- To help audiences build character relatability. Audience empathy, sympathy, and antipathy are achieved quicker when stereotypes are used so it emotionally connects the audience faster.
- To signpost audiences. Stereotypes help audiences gain a sense of the potential direction of the story. For example, the princess will find love, the hero will defeat evil, etc.
- To reinforce genre expectation. All genres contain stock characters and audiences may be attracted to a movie due to these characters.
Stuart Hall on Stereotyping:
Hall expresses how stereotypes can be very useful in the film industry as they increase the visibility of key groups. as stereotypes usually depict groups by referencing a few key negative features - behaviors, physical appearances, for example, having a blonde play a 'dumb' character would help get the character trait across to the audience as they would be familiar with this stereotype.
Stereotyping can be very negative and dangerous, as it creates ‘groups’ who are identified through negative features and their ‘otherness’, together with the implication that the negative traits are ‘natural’ qualities. So for example, the stereotype that blondes are dumb. This leads to what Hall calls ‘power circularity’, that is, the groups with power get to create the stereotypes and exclude other groups from the elite list.
We researched and analysed the type of characters, settings, and wardrobes that were collectively and similarly used in the type of genre of thriller and horror movies. We also looked at our target audience to see our age group which deemed to be 14 - 25. We analysed the different social groups and stereotypes that we wanted to include in our product so that they were recognisable to audiences.
I used Pinterest in order to create a mood board and find various pictures that represented these social groups that we came up with; stalkers, sporty teenage girls, darkrooms, and woods. Then I created various boards so the themes were clear and we could clearly create them in our film opening.
