Representation in Media

             Representation in media is the specific group of people that is represented on said piece of media. Usually used as a marketing strategy to attract certain groups of people to their product/movie. It’s a decently large problem now a days, judging by the fact that most groups of people represented on media happen to be the stereotypical person.

Tide Ad

            The Tide Ad is about a woman that wishes the detergent wasn’t so strong so that the stains on her daughters’ hoodies and cargo shorts wouldn’t wash out so that she could throw them away. Obviously, the ad has some stereotypes based on the likings of a specific gender, she wants her daughter to wear pink "girl" clothes, but she clearly has an interest in other clothes. Depending on how you look at the different parts of the ad you could have different views on the topic, at the end the mother seemed to be trying to adjust to her daughters likings, yet, at the beginning she seems old school and stereotypical. At least at the end of the ad there’s text that reads “Style is an option, clean is not”, meaning that although the ad shows a bad message, maybe, the whole point is to steer people away from this stereotype. Like I said before the effect of this ad can be double sided, one could interpret it as an ad enforcing the stereotype some could say it’s promoting a change on the stereotype.

H&M Ad

            This Ad is clearly meant to represent people of all sizes, ages, genders, sexualities, religions, races, and ethnicities. There is not a single group of people that wasn’t represented equally. There is not much to say about this ad, except that it’s a great way to promote anything, because people form many different groups will be appealed and feel represented, this has a great effect on anyone watching, also educating people on being inclusive.

Genre Research Activity

 

Psychological thrillers are a combination of thrillers and psychological fiction genres. This is probably my favorite type of genre because it can combine so many different emotions in a rather “simple” manner. Psychological thrillers are filled with mystery, drama, action, paranoia, and the main charters sanity. They can be as shocking and scary as the widely known Horror genre, yet they can also embody romance on certain scenarios. 

Content

In the movie fractured a father is tested by his sanity as his troubles and his surroundings lose their sense. This movie was based on the paranoia of a father looking after his daughter. This often involved his fear on his conspiracies on a hospital which he believed his daughter occupied. This was an amazing film with an extreme plot twist, really highlighting the power behind a properly directed and well thought out psychological thriller

            The lighthouse is a 2019 psychological thriller that was recorded in black and white and a 1.19:1 aspect ratio. This movie mainly focused on the emotions and the spiraling mental health of two men stranded in a remote island on a light house. This took a more literal shot at a psychological thriller, being based on the men’s sanity throughout their survival in the island

Production Techniques

Low level lighting is commonly used in pair with a cool ambient, it sort of creates this numb suspense environment, where the audience can easily absorb any of the clues and hints the movie has to offer. Mirrors are often used in psychological thrillers to show the darker inner self of the main character, or maybe even to show the reality the character is living in. Props and details are very important on Phycological thriller, they always show of a deeper message behind scenes, almost revealing the truth/ reality of the movie.

Marketing 

The target audience of most psychological thrillers is 18+, usually because the films contain disturbing, thrilling and confusing themes. There’s a slight margin between the number of women and men that view psychological thrillers. Research shows women are attracted to psychological thrillers because they tend to enjoy the intellectual side of them.

 

The way psychological thrillers are marketed is showing confusing clips of the movie, the trailers are usually very straight forward leaving the viewer in confusion, craving to watch the entire film. It’s a very smart way to market films, considering they can easily pull in viewers with the obscure meaning behind the short clips/posters showed.

Sample 1: Joker (2019)

Arthur Fleck is a wannabe stand up comedian who suffers from many mental illnesses, including one which causes him to laugh uncontrollably when he is nervous. Arthur's mental health causes large amount of the people surrounding him to reject and look down upon him, even though all he wants is to fit in, almost as a role model to others. After being brutally beaten, and having his medication taken away, his life begins to spiral downward out-of-control into delusions, violence, and anarchy until he eventually transforms into Gotham's infamous role model to the protestors

Sample 2: 10 Cloverfield Lane

(2016)

After getting in a car accident a woman wakes up to find herself in a bunker with two mysterious men. She is told that there has been an alien attack and the outside world is poisoned. Soon the woman notices that maybe the men’s intentions aren’t as good as they said, and she wonders if she should go outside. The viewer is almost as clueless as the main character throughout the entire film, and its only until the end that both the viewer and the woman realize what is real and what is not 

I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

The Lie (2018)

The Rental (2020)

You Should Have Left (2019)

Swallow (2019)

Sources:

• https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-lighthouse-movie-review-2019
• https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/10/8556097/fractured-netflix-ending-explained
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/plotsummary
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179933/
• https://mobilemoviemaking.com/art-psychological-thriller/

Quick Introduction

 Hello everyone, My name is Matias and I made this blog to keep track/document my progress on my AICE media studies class. I have a great interest on film and the meaning behind every detail. I will be documenting my progress by making posts on most of the important projects I do in my class, and I would gladly take any criticism.