How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
When creating our opening sequence our media group decided we wanted to represent two different social
groups which were teenagers and gender.
Teenagers- the female character
Teenagers were the main representation and as a group we decided on what they would be
doing and the way that they should be presented. We believed that by displaying the female getting
ready to go out it related to the stereotype that teenagers have busy social lives and enjoy going
out and making themselves look attractive.
Furthermore teenagers are associated in
society as being the noisy, outgoing age
category for example always going to parties.
This also links to the stereotype that teenagers
are quite dependent on their looks and feel the
need to get dressed up and wear lots of make
up to highlight how they want to get each
other’s attention.
Additionally the flashbacks we used of the Tom stalking Ruby and
the close-ups of Tom on the floor represent how teenagers make
bad mistakes and it is an age when they don’t always think and
reflect on the consequences of their actions.
We enable this to be seen through the use of mi- en-scene. We displayed the female going back to her home therefore representing the fact even though
teenagers are growing u[p they are very dependent on their families. To add to this the use of her clothes reinforces the idea that she is typical teenager who
is interested in fashion and looking her. The female is wearing smart trousers and a shirt with a elegant necklace and then she changes into a dress. This
highlights how she is always worrying about looking the best and doesn't want to be seen as unattractive. This links to the media itself and demonstrates how
teenagers feel pressure on themselves to make the look good.
To add this the use of the shot of the girl taking the photo is a clear representation of teenagers. In the
current generation a new interest teenagers have is taking "selfies", which is a photo of themselves.
Therefore we wanted to include this in our sequence to convey the representation of the current teenagers
and how it is constantly changing. We felt this appropriate because it highlighted how teenagers are so stuck
on their appearance and like to take photos of themselves. Even though shot represented teenagers it also
created tension because the male appeared in the picture when he wasn't actually there.
The fact we used low key lighting in the sequence could perhaps also suggest that night time is the time when
teenagers stereotypically come out and cause trouble. However we went slightly against this stereotype because
we wanted the audience to believe she was a normal, good girl who wouldn't cause any trouble. We wanted to
make her look normal and not someone who would want to cause trouble. Therefore this meant when it was
revealed what she had done it would be more of a shock to the audience and surprise them. This is portraying
that you never know what teenagers are up to and that they can surprise you in many different ways,
Additionally the use of ambient sound of the female character hitting the
water bottle off the side gives the representation that teenagers can be quite
aggressive. The sound is quite a loud sound and highlights the anger of the
individual. However this is quite an unsual representation of a female
because females are seen as the weaker gender and the ones who are more
relaxed. Therefore this makes the audience more interested and aware of the
representation of teenagers.
These shots all convey how teenagers can intimidate one person and
think they have the right to hurt another human being. Obviously not
all teenagers are like this but because the small majority get the
most attention it has become the stereotype so we believed this
would be the clearest representation for us to use in our film.
In the opening sequence from Wallander representation of teenagers are seen. Wide shots are
used to display what the girls a re wearing and their general appearance. This is similar to our
sequence in the what that it uses some stereotypes of the teenagers but also go against some.
One girl is seen wearing a leather jacket and her hair is messy going against the stereotype and
suggesting that she is not bothered about what they look like. This also indicates her as being
quite rebellious and the dominant character. However the other character and seems more
innocent portrays highlighting how the other girl has manipulated her and made her do
something. This is giving the representation that teenagers are easily lead by others and do
things just to fit in.
Gender
Gender was our other representation. In a typical film and in life in
general people would expect the male to be the superior character that is
stronger than everyone else however our film goes against this stereotype
and the females are in fact the stronger gender.
Our opening sequence displays the male
as being the both the victim and antagonist.
This is because it highlights how Tom was
stalking Ruby but it also indicates how Ruby
took matters into her own hands and hurt
him.
We felt this was would be an interesting thing to do
because it would make our film more memorable for
the audience and it would be more unique to others.
By using shots such as close ups of the Tom’s face displays how innocent and vulnerable he became
and how the female has been the one to hurt him. The reverse of gender is unusual and highlights how
one gender is always stronger than another. This is therefore going against the typical convention of
thriller films where the male is always the stronger character. Thid makes the audience more interested
as well as confused by the reverse.
The use of mis-en-scene also helps portray the representation of genders. The feamle is displayed wearing quite smart,
fashionable clothing expresses how females enjoy getting dressed up and mkaing themselves look fashionable and
attractive. The male character then wore a football style jacket which expresses the masculinity of him and the
stereotypcial male who enjoys playing football and doing sport.
The use of thje eye line match also helps indicate to the audience the different representations of genders. This shot is
used when the female is putting her mascara on and then there is a flashback of the boy looking straight into the camera.
This gives the impression that the male is stronger and is looking down on the female. It provides the representation that
males are superior and have control over people. However because the female has hurt the male it indicates that females
can sometimes hurt the males and the roles of the gender is reversed.