Using PAWWS

Now that our editing process is under way, it has become easier to identify that PAWWS that are present in our trailer. PAWWS stands for: who is Present, who is Absent, What world is created, What is valued and Stereotypes that are present. We used PAWWS as a part of our research and planning last year when creating our teen angst film trailers, and it made the research and planning process a lot easier. Before we started filming this thriller product, we discussed PAWWS in our group and decided on how we would use PAWWS to make a successful trailer for our thriller film, as we would use PAWWS to help fit our thriller genre. This is how we used it: 

PAWWS

Present in our film trailer is a mixed generation of actors - as we have 2 actors (the main girl character and the psychopath antagonist) who are 17 years old, we have used 16-18 year-old's for the victims of the killer, and we have also used adults aged 30-50 years old as the detectives that are put on the case. Use of older actors was important in our film, as the roles that they play are ones that cannot be pursued by people that are of my age group. If we had used 16-18 year-old's for the roles such as detectives then the film would become unrealistic and this would lead to a lack of interest from the audience as it spoils the believability of the film.

Absent in our film are both cultural diversity and disability. There was nobody available in the school that weren't white British or had any noticeable disability - however we may be able to include diversity in our film as extras if we film on a day that we can include more people.


What world is created is one of distress and extreme violence, which is a stereotypical convention of psychological thrillers. The narrative is focused around a psychopath who committed school killings as a younger boy and has now escaped the mental institution that he was placed in - killing more people. There is one girl that he is after specifically as she managed to escape the school during his killing spree when he was younger - and when she finds out about the psycho's escape and that he may be after her - a world of extreme distress and panic is created.

What is valued in our film is safety, comfort and the help of others. When the psycho escaped from the mental institution, the girl he targets values her safety, protection and comfort and there are a lot of shots of her in her home that will be ussed in the trailer to represent her valuing these things. Also, when the detective works out that the psycho is after her, he contacts her and offers her his help and protection before the psycho can get to her - and these are other things that she will value more than anything else.

Stereotypes that are present in our film trailer can include a young female that the antagonist is searching for to kill. This is a stereotypical convention of the thriller genre as women are generally perceived as being weak and hopeless in comparison to a strong and powerful male villain and this links into Vladamir Propp's theory. We are also going to make it clear that the antagonists weapon of choice is a knife - and this is a prop that is commonly used in psychological thrillers as antagonists generally commit knife crimes etc.