Our media product represents two major social groups; the police and teen/young adults - while dealing with criminals.
The main character, Elijah - a murderer who we are instantly put off of due to his story and history of killing. His presence on camera during the interrogation begins as a somewhat shy and innocent character - the development of the case shows that his innocence can be questioned. One of his last lines is:
"Well isn't that interesting? A blue car... it's kind of ironic, isn't it?"
The camera is now in his face, his tone of voice is some what sarcastic and his facial expressions have turned very smug. This use of dramatic irony is key to the character development. Even during editing, sound bridges are used when the detective is talking as Elijah's facial expressions are important to the story development - something could be given away at any moment.
Elijah is part of a group that plays innocent when they know fully well that they are in the wrong - a twisted criminal in the audience's mind. He is also a stereotype to the teen/young adult category - a white male that can literally get away with murder. This stereotype has played a huge part in recent news as the discussion of unfair trials and racially pushed convictions are being questioned. Many feel that white males are being let off major convictions as they are a supposed 'higher social group'. This is a negative representation of this social group and as someone who was so closely involved with the creation of the product, can see a political message involved.
The detective is another major role in the story development. He mentions that Elijah has "come to the police station on his own will" - suggesting that Elijah already possess the higher power. The detective has a political power supporting him as he defended by the government - so his social group is protected. Again, the detective is a white male, so he is also protected there.
His dialogue is mono-tone, and suggests mystery to the case. The laid-back characterisation and costume suggest he is not interested in the case, or not taking it as seriously as it possibly should be.
Both of the characters are young, so are traditional in terms of representation. We expect a young, healthy and physically fit detective/police officer in film. The criminal is also young and physically fit - due to the push on the Hollywood aesthetic.
This interrogation follows a similar structure to that of 'Usual Suspects'
The one-on-one conversation between two males, displaying a criminal and someone who is clearly innocent. The dialogue is fairly empty - nothing that really indicates storyline, and nothing that deep in terms of context. But the conventions between this small talk can be extremely enigmatic for character development as this is the first time two characters are being shown on screen.
good
ReplyDelete