Monday 7 May 2012

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question 2:
Here i will tell you what social groups are represented in my media coursework, considering age, gender and social class as i thought they were most shown thoughout the film.

In our coursework we used many ways of representation to show the social group that our media product focuses on; our 3 haracters are British male teenagers and are seen as rebels trying to look cool. Teenage males are represented as funny and rebellious.
To start with, we considered age in our social group, as they are 3 teenagers we thought a great place to film would be as the 3 characters leave school in their suits showing  they are in sixth form and are meant to be responsible role models.


We are wearing suits so are immediately seen as responsible adults for our age; as in people would believe us to be calm, collective and sane.  This is representation of our age and although people think we may look smart, we do end up drinking and this shows it is tyical behaviour for our age group.
I am seen to be wearing a blue hoody underneath my suiit, this could be subverting the idea of looking smart, also Samir does not have a tie on, so although people may think we are smart, teenagers will be teenagers and brake rules and this is shown by not wearing the correct uniform.


 Another thing representing age and irresponsibility would be the way Smi walks when we stroll down the street, for one we are walking down a road wihout worry and Samir tries to act 'gangster' showing a stereottypical teenager in the eyes of an older generation.

Gender is represented in this piece of coursework as the 3 main chracters are male, rebellious, they runaway from teachers and try to act cool.
The blue hoody is again used to represent gender, as a majority of people link hoodys to male's they see as 'gangsters', these three characters walk down the oad drinking without a care in the world about being caught, this is something we mainly see with males rather than females. So using the rebellious and layed back attitude for the characters definately shows off their gender, especially when they try to look cool by walking like a 'gangster'' or accidentally walking into things therefore being the opposite to cool.



The last thing i looked at when choosing how social groups are represented in our film, was social class. As we are seen as upper class students as being in sixth form, the use of drinking subverts the reputation viewers expect to see.
We are in suits and are therefore seen as an automatically higher class, but using the subverts make our reputation of a less high class, for instance wearing the blue hoody makes the character look less smart, and therefore of a less high class.
Also the fact, Samir's character isnt wearing a tie and is walking as if to look cool, he is again seen as a lower class. Then to top it off the 3 characters find a wine bottle and drink iresponsibly on the streets almost as if they ar attention seeking.
Although the suits and sixth form give the viewer an idea that these characters are of high class, as they run away from teachers, try to act cool and drink alcohool we see their reputation of social class decrease.

2 comments:

  1. A good start, making good and consistent use of images to support your point - make sure you have considered how the use of:

    1) cinematography;
    2) editing;
    3) mise-en-scene; and
    4) sound

    have helped represent the two social groups you discuss to be able to give a fully detailed account.

    Remember to use media terminology wherever possible. And, if you can, don't forget Barthes, Levi-Strauss and/or Saussure - if you can mention them relevantly you are cooking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That awkward moment when I realise I've been ninja'd by nine and a half hours.

    Seriously, I've had the draft of my version of this open all day and have been adding to it in bits and pieces due to other things happening, not paying much attention to what others have been doing on here...

    ReplyDelete