Evaluation Activity 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We decided to compare our villain to Michael Myers. This is a character from a successful series of films called 'Halloween' where he stalks and murders various innocent people. Some of his attributes have been reflected in the character that we have created and used in our film opening. Despite this there are various differences to suit our thriller as I will explain below:

Similarities

-The main similarity is the plain white mask that reveals nothing about the characters emotions and creates the idea that during events such as murder, their emotions are not effected.

-They both have a weapon that can be commonly picked up from an everyday environment.
-The clothing used in both characters is dark which shows a mysterious side to the character. If the person was shown in coloured clothing then it would give them a sense of identity and emotion. Showing our character in dark clothing, like Michael Myers makes him seem emotionless and more to fear.
-The role of both characters is very similar which is to chase victims.
-The motives of Michael Myers are never fully revealed which makes it more scary for the audience as they feel like he is out of control. Although the motives of our antagonist may be revealed slowly throughout the film, it is important to keep them unknown for a while to create a sense of mystery towards the audience.
-Both villains are played by male characters. This is due to the fact that a male character is more dominant and the audience will fear a larger genuine fear from being chased by a man.

Differences
-Michael Myers is seen walking very slowly during scenes yet always keeps up with the victim whilst the villain in our thriller seems to have a more realistic approach to chasing the victim. For example our villain is not seen to have any extreme abilities and has to run to keep up with the vulnerable character.
-Michael Myers wears a boiler suit which seems like hes dressed for the occassion whereas our character, although a similar style, is seen wearing clothes that a human wears. This helps make our character look like he has normal human attributes which will make the audience question what his motives are.
-Although both have weapon's that can easily be picked up, our character weilds a crowbar rather than a knife. This is larger and recieves more attention from the audience.

Thomas Steer