Representation theories applied in my trailer:

Gender: The aim of my horror film trailer is to scare whilst marketing for the film I am making. Main areas of
representation in media include the representation of Gender. Within my trailer I will be representing the
female gender through the use of my central characters, these being my protagonist: Poppy who is being
constantly tormented by this demon character. Similarly to Jessica my secondary character who is also
experiencing similar things as they work together to stop this and investigate into how to put an end to the
series of horrifying events. The female genders are usually under represented in the horror film genre as they
personify the Propps character of the princess in his narrative theory. They are portrayed as being weak and
frail and usually the victim who needs saving, due to the opinions of women before the 1960/70s feminist
movement which questioned the women's position within the patriarchal society. Horror films usually enforce
this old fashioned ideal that women should be associated with home, and domestic spheres. However just by
having my protagonist as a female it instantly shows a positive representation due to the central focus being
on the emotional journey of this female character, showing the significance of this character and her gender.
This opposes the theory that Laura Mulvey created in 1975 as she said that the presence of women in media
is solely for the purpose of display rather than a narrative function however the storyline of my film follows
the emotional journeys of my female characters. This however may be contradicted due to what happens to
my characters as they seem helpless in the trailer as they are loosing a battle against a spirit/demon who is
tormenting them. This demons gender is left unknown to the audiences however alternative readings could
suggest that the demon is a male due to the male gender seemingly represents the hegemonic idea that
males are the more dominant of the sexes. However due to the desire to empower women I want to have an
ambiguous ending to not only engage audiences into wanting to see the film but also leave the idea open that
the female gender is of importance and challenge the stereotypical view also suggested my Laura Mulveys
male gaze theory.

Representation theories applied in my trailer:

Age: In my trailer I have the representation of age throughout the use of my characters. Representing
teenagers roughly around the age of 17. Contrastingly I have children/childhood represented by the former
selves of my other characters. However even though the characters are the same people but just in different
ages it not only adds to the horror element but additionally highlights the contrast between them and the
representations of them. Children in media are usually depicted in positive ways however in horror films this
is turned on its head as children can signify the idea of twisted innocence and the demonic figure. This
convention mainly stemmed from the exorcist (1973) which is considered to be one of the scariest films ever.
The child gets possessed, releasing this demonic child figure into the horror genre which would be used for
years to come. I wanted to use children in my trailer as they represent my characters in a more innocent and
vulnerable versions of themselves, however due to the way I am representing them they appear to be scary
and terrifying showing this demonic undertone to their childhood which acts as some context to the storyline.
My main protagonist are also shown in the present tense as teenagers. I wanted to represent teenagers
positively due to the lack of positive representations in all forms of media. This bad representation could
stem from Karl Marx's theory (1990) which explains that the values and ideas promoted by a dominant group
are to reinforce power. In media it could argued that the old vs youth binary opposition is being reinforced by
the older generation in power to protect any moral standard by presenting the youth in media in a vulgar and
dramatic way. However as an a-level media student currently a teenager I want to challenge these cultural
hegemonic ideas that the youth are bad by representing the youth in a positive way because I am a youth
myself. I want to represent my teenagers as being strong minded as they go through these sequences of
horror.