Evaluation Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think that the character Elissa, played by Jennifer Lawrence in House at the End of the Street has a lot of qualities similar to the protagonist of our film. Similarly to our film, House at the End of the Street is a psychological thriller/ drama and therefore has a lot of similar scenes and ideas behind the film.

Both Elissa and our protagonist are shown throughout as vulnerable characters, Elissa was left alone tied up in a basement as she dated someone who pretended to be someone who he was not. He was in fact psychologically disturbed man and when she stumbled upon his secret he tried to manipulate her but she was the only one of his victims that managed to escape. Similarly to our protagonist, Anna managed to escape from her abductor but we mainly see her journey of struggle trying to get to safety.  I believe that, these photographs especially show how they are both presented vulnerable, not only because they are tied up, but because you can see the fear and frustration in their eyes and through their facial expressions.

Both Elissa and Anna represent girls in their late teens, aged between 17-20. This is mainly because females are stereotypically more afraid and sensitive in comparison to males who are much more often stereotypically presented as tough and masculine.

One of the main reasons we used a female character as a protagonist is because we felt that it would fit in perfectly with some of the generic conventions of a thriller although this could’ve challenged them (Femme Fatal) as ours is seen as a vulnerable and not an independent female. The fact that they are presented with vulnerability allows the audience to be left wondering what will happen next as it is clearly presented that she is in trouble, yet are left with unanswered question as to what will happen next. Furthermore, we thought it would be most effective instead of using a male character as a protagonist because we thought that the fear would be more easily emphasised than if we used a male character.

Additionally, many teenagers who are female will be able to identify with the protagonist as she is shown wearing casual clothes, commonly worn by typical teenage girls. Similarly, both Elissa and Anna are wearing, a t-shirt/vest top with khaki trousers/leggings with a jumper/cardigan which are as a result dirty due to their struggle. I feel that this now, makes it easier for audience members, particularly girls to identify with our protagonist as she is shown through her clothes and the way she carries herself that she is only a teenage girl who shows fear throughout, as she is isolated. Although they may identify with her they will not be able to identify with what she has been through (the psychological element of our thriller) as this is not something that occurs often.

Although Anna and Elissa are similar in many ways, I think they are also very different as in the two minute opening of House at the End of the Street the audience is introduced to an incident which occurred relating to the man Elissa dated, and then are transitioned to four years later, Elissa calmly playing the guitar outside a house. Whereas, in our two-minute opening, straight away the audience is introduced with a heavy element of action as they see Anna running for safety as fast as she can in an isolated place.