Q2 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As our film focuses upon an inner-city romance torn apart by racial conflict within society, the primary focus of our film is ethnicity- presenting and highlighting the differences between a white middle class male and a  black working class teenager. Furthermore our film represents British teenagers, in particular those from London, and the difficulties in today's society.

The following Mind Map highlights our four key representation areas:

Race, Nationality, class and Age


Our main male protagonist is Clem:


Our  female protagonist is Melissa:



Representation in Clothing

Clem

 

Clem, a 17 year old middle class British white teenage boy

-Branded clothing- shows fashion consciousness, however no very obvious
-Middle class background highlighted by his stylish outfit- cool character to look up to
-Skate brands to allude to his passion of skateboarding- appeal to indie teens
-Accessory- skateboard- suggest his motive within the opening- appeal to action sport lovers

Melissa

- Typical 17 year old girl :

-Own personal style, however some common items such as white Nike trainers- appeal to working class females 
-Quite urban/ relaxed- simlar to character Shaks in Sket(2011)
-Accessory- iPhone- represents socially active and technology dependent generation- uses it for social reasons not for business.

Language

When constructing the conversation, we felt that it wass appropriate to integrate british slang, and 'London' phrases into it in order to reflect the urban, teenage, attitudes of the girls and how they are not quite adults- still with simple thoughts and speech.

This sample of our script highlights this:

Slang provides a modern and relevant urban twist within the film, and makes it more attractive and relatable to those from an urban, working class background, or others who enjoy urban themed films.

An example of the use of slang within British Indie drama is in the film Kidulthood, this scene higlights the successful integration of british slang:



SETTING

Another way in which we represented particular social groups was the presentation of setting- by situating our opening in suburban London, our audience could pick up on identifiable buildings and landscapes.

In  particular, we made use of the iconic london bus stops, both representing those familiar with london's public transport, and also those who are viewng to dicover an inside perspective of the city.

-Compared with a central London bus stop, ours was vandalized and dirty, increasing its reality

Equally, we also focused on representing the middle classes, using Clem's journey through the town to show this- larger white detached houses and longer thinner streets presented a more upper class, respectable neighbourhood.

We also deliberately presented and brought together two completely different character types- black and white- in order to

a) Present a story of how two binary opposites break many conventional views and stereotypes when they become attracted to one another- attracting multiple cultures towards the film.

b) Present the awkward/ difficult situations that love and romance cause, making it relatable to most teenagers.

This carries the message that the divisions and separation within British society, especially in culturally diverse areas such as London- the whole point of our film.