2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film primarily focuses upon the conflicts sparked by racial tension, therefore is is only expected that the core social groups within the film are defined by ethnicity. Our film also represents class. However, our representation of class, is also heavily influenced by our representations of ethnicity. In addition, our film represents age in the form of teenagers. In particular, teenagers from London. Below is a mind map displaying the methods of representing these social groups in our film;

Clem

Photo of Clem who is played by group member Louis

Clem is a 17 year old British white boy.

• Middle class shown by his branded clothing - isn't too obvious that it's branded which suggests that he's very fashion conscious 
• Skateboard - represents indie teen - popular with white middle class youth living in an urban environment
• We modeled Clem off of Skins character Freddie  

Freddie and Effy from Skins

Melissa

The character Melissa was heavily modelled after the character Shaks from the 2011 film "Sket". Both are they stylish with their clothing, but are still practical and wear what's comfortable.

Shaks from the 2011 film "Sket"

Setting

Another major social group we wanted to represent was those living in an urban environment. The most practical way to do this is through the setting of our media text.

London, one of the most iconic cities in the world, is culturally, ethnically and socially diverse, yet every inhabitant can relate to certain features of the city. For instance, the use of a bus stop at the end of our opening scene will be recognizable by every Londoner.

Bus stops are iconic for all types of people

Bus stop similar to the one in our final product

Additionally, we had to represent the contrasting urban backgrounds that Clem and Melissa live in.

Clem lives in a middle class area. Thinner roads, semi-detached houses and large gates are all affiliated with more affluent and middle class residential areas. 

Clem skating down his road

Melissa lives in a tower block state. This type of estate is commonly affiliated with poorer areas in London and other major British cities.

Typical London estate

Melissa and Shani walking down estate staircase

Another important element is the whether the characters reflect the setting. For instance, all the characters are dressed in typical urban attire. However, we also had to consider language, dialect and slang.

Our first draft of the script for Growing Pains

The first draft of our script displays an over the top use of London slang. We ultimately decided to use more subtle types of slang in order to give a more mature, yet still urban, feel to the characters.