How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In the opening minutes of ‘The Chain Mail’ it is clear the target within the film is teenage girls. Although class is not particularly denoted in the film, social networking is. Social networking is a modern phenomenon, with 250 million people using sites like Facebook.
‘The Chain Mail’ keeps a modern feel to it with the messages appearing on phones and laptops. The phone message is received on BBM or Blackberry Messenger which is available to anyone who has a Blackberry as a way of free messaging. The message on the laptop was originally filmed on a Facebook page. However we felt we needed a closer shot of the writing so this part was cut out. The use of networking in the film represents the modern dependence on social networks.

The use of social networks and modern communication can also connote how dangerous certain sites can be, especially with media coverage. Everyone takes the risk when using a social network, obviously there are going to be unpleasant people, it is the responsibility of the user to keep themselves safe. The danger of social networks is aimed at teenagers when in the media spotlight. This directly links with the convention of teenage suffering in horror films as many main characters in horrors are in a younger age group.

Teenagers are stereotyped as spending all their time on social networking sites and using their phone to communicate with friends. This, for us, created a perfect narrative, using the media’s negative spotlight on social networking and the lack of control people have from keeping their children safe from unknown dangers, linking with the supernatural convention of a horror.