Casting Evaluation

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Kieran-Drug dealer 1

Kieran shares many of the characteristics of the stereotypical film ‘thug’, an example of which is Paul Sorvino’s character in Goodfellas. Whilst the storyline in our production differs greatly to that of Goodfellas, their characters physically look the similar in terms of their large build and both also have deep, slightly intimidating voices.

Max-Drug dealer 2

Max looks quite similar to Stephen Baldwin’s character in The Usual Suspects, with them both being of a fairly tall height and having facial hair. Their overall manner is also similar, with them sharing an empty look in their eyes, suggesting a lack of compassion. This could be expected of a career criminal. We were aiming to portray Max as an outwardly respectable 'family man' with hid normal home and framed pictures. However, his actions don't reflect his profession, with him appearing to be similar to characters such as Tony Soprano in his lack of empathy and compassion.

Myself-Victim/tester

I defie the stereotype of the conventional victim in that I aren't female as is the case in films such as Psycho, possibly going against audience expectations if they aren't familiar with the gangster/thriller genre. However, this doesn’t have as much impact as if say one of the drug dealers was female, as it is often men who are involved more in the dealing of drugs, not women. As it wouldn’t be expected of a woman to be the tester, the casting choice makes sense, and obviously men are very often victims in the real world as well, adding to the sense of realism in the storyline. Within the crime genre there are frequently male victims, especially the 'gangster' sub-genre where they are seen to claim to have a 'code' but are then portrayed as brutal psychopaths who will betray each other when necessary.