Regional identity is identifying someones identity which is rooted not only in the setting of the film but also in the characters costume and speech.
In our film we have purposely chosen the family to be an Irish Mafia family as there was a real life Irish Mafia (IRA). As our thriller is based on heavy crime I believe the costumes and roles the antagonistic characters play are vital as this sets up nicely for what the police investigation department do in order to track down the mafia. An example of crime TV programs are CSI and Criminal Minds, these shows show police authoritative figures tracking down all sorts of criminal identities. Therefore as Mafia's aren't generically suited to one particular area but instead all over the world, these shows show different stereotypes that different regions hold which we aimed to stick too; such as a racist Irish Mafia (only targeting black males as seen on the pin board).Additionally, as it is a mafia based film it is difficult to represent the regional identity through the use of costume as a smart suit did give much away. However, the voiceover was strong and had an accent to show his identity. In many films voice is the most easily identifiable feature to represent ones regional identity. Furthermore, regional identity is represented through the non-diegetic dialogue as they south London voice can be heard therefore clearly representing where they live and where the movie is situated. (Although the Mafia originates from Irish heritage.
Gender
Men are usually represented as the more violent and aggressive gender compared to women. Whereas women are presented as more sensitive, weak and vulnerable; so in our thriller we make sure that our characters conform to these stereotypes so that our thriller will be seen as more mainstream and appeal to a wider range of people. We conformed to these stereotypes by having the murderer as a man and all key essential roles belonging to men.
Also, traditionally in society men have had all the power - this system is called partiarchy. Therefore male attributes have been seen as superior to male attributes. We use this ideology throughout the opening sequence of our thriller as the aggressive and vital roles and acts and carried out by men like the father giving his son the gun to commit the murder. The power is presented by Michael and Dennis Callaghan getting out of the car in synch with an assertive manner ready to finish a job. Additionally, the voiceover talks about how this was Dennis' first outing as a mafia member and when he makes the kill he hardly hesitates; this shows that men are portrayed as the more violent gender type. Furthermore, many other thriller movies have similar stereotypes that the male sex are the aggressive force behind the crimes. For example in Scream the women dies at the beginning of the film as she is victimised by the killer, just like in our film where the vulnerable character gets shots at the beginning of the film who can't defend himself against two protagonists who are aggressive male characters.
Moreover representation of gender is also presented through our mise en scene. For example, our soundtrack is continuously in the background to show that this is just another trip with another victim, showing the men are in control of whats happening. Additionally, the very loud and exaggerated gun shot exasperates how weak the victim is and out of control they are. Moreover we used a low angle shot Dennis Callaghan (the son) is getting ready to shoot as this also signifies the strength he feels and has compared to the victim. Furthermore, once the gun is shot, the scene cuts to the Mafia boss where a low angle wide shot is present at first, thus instantly showing he holds the ultimate power over all, and again he is a male, confirming that men have more powerful and aggressive roles in society than woman. This means that the binary opposition is clear through the use of gender as the males have the strong roles such as the killing whereas usually the victims are weak, vulnerable girls; even though our victim wasn't a girl, the stereotypes still apply as he was a black male which shows the racist stereotypes that the Irish Mafia hold; showing that blacks are treated as lesser people as well. This shows gender stereotypes through mise-en-scene as different shots and non-diegetic sound represent the male power in different ways, which contrasts to the weakness of the victim which could be heard by the groans and screams for help once the boot was opened.
An example of gender stereotypes in the media is seen in this newspaper article, as men are seen as being violent compared to women, similarly in our thriller a violent man kills a harmless, defenseless black male so our thriller conforms to this similar ideology.
However, although most movies show the males as the aggressive characters, it is evident woman can show violence. An example of gender countertypes is presented in the newspapers more regularly than people think.
Disability
Another social group is disabled and able groups of people. Able bodies are usually in more position of authority over disabled people; and pose a threat to disabled people due to their strength. Where as disabled people are seen as weak and very vulnerable.
In our thriller we present able bodies negatively through all three protagonists, Dennis (son), Michael (father) and Brandon (uncle/mafia boss) Callaghan's ability to harm another person with their ability of power in a powerful role. In many thriller films and TV series for example Intruders, the able person is presented negatively as they create harm and distress to other people. It is a common ideology used in thrillers where the able bodies would usually be the ones causing the negative harm to normal civilians as they would be able to use forceful strength to be extremely aggressive to the victim (the aggressive men in my thriller over the defenseless victim in the boot).
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