Evaluation: Part 2: Representation

Part 2: Representation:
How does your media product represent particular social groups?:
In our film opening we have represented many social groups including men (taking up the majority of our cast), women, gay people, teenagers and Christians. The social group of men is the most general group that we have included, which we have done through the main character, Henry, being our male lead, as well as his boyfriend being male, and a patient in the waiting room being male also. We have challenged stereotypes of men in our film by making the main male characters in a loving relationship with each other. Therefore the stereotype of men being in heterosexual relationships and being extremely masculine is challenged here. To present how we have challenged this we have included medium and two people shots of the couple walking towards the camera holding hands and sitting on a bench holding hands, to present to the audience the nature of their relationship, using a conventionally romantic setting to set the scene: a park.

This is also how we have presented the fact that our main couple in the opening are gay. This relationship is presented as extremely meaningful and important to the protagonist (Henry) as he is seen as thinking of his relationship with his boyfriend in a flashback, through the shots that I have previously mentioned. To present this as a flashback we included an effect called 'bokeh random' to differentiate it from the rest of our opening and represent the change in time. We also added a fade to colour transition at the beginning of the entire opening to show how Henry is having a flashback. The same shots of him and his boyfriend are again shown just before Henry receives his results, to present the significance that the relationship has to him. However, this time we edited them in short snappy segments (in a montage with other shots) to show it as a quick reflection on the happier times they've shared together and present to the audience how he is thinking of these memories at a very worrying time for him. This is done to emphasise his boyfriend's meaning to him. Our presentation of the gay community challenges stereotypes, as many may perceive gay people to be flamboyant, feminine (in all aspects), etc. Our characters challenge this as Henry is a normal boy from a slightly posh family and his boyfriend is from a ruff background therefore doesn't adhere to the stereotypes previously mentioned. Although, his boyfriend does adhere to the stereotype of gay men taking drugs, as this is the reason that they have contracted HIV in the first place, therefore we have included this stereotype.

In the film G.B.F, the gay character is presented as very flamboyant and has feminine traits, this is a stereotype that we are trying to break in our film. 

Here in the images above and below we have represented three key social groups, men, young people and the gay community. We have used a medium shot (above) and a wide angle shot (below) to represent their relationship with each other and them as individual young male characters. The costumes we have used are very casual and stereotypical of males of their age in this film genre. 

Young people are presented in our film opening with the main couple being young (they are teenagers). As well as young people being in the waiting room at the doctors surgery. Typical stereotypes relating to young people is that they are all thugs, addicted to social media, selfish, promiscuous, etc. We have reinforced some of these common stereotypes, specifically that young people are promiscuous and thugs. We have presented them as promiscuous by our main couple being young and having a sexual relationship, which perhaps, some may argue that they are too young to have. Also, we have somewhat reinforced the stereotype of young people being thugs as Henry's boyfriend comes from an underprivileged, chavvy, drug using background, which although this doesn't necessarily class him as a thug, it may suggest this to some viewers. We have presented him in this way through his choice of clothing/ costume, as he is wearing a hoodie to suggest this. The way we have presented young males links with Stuart Hall's way of thinking, who was a cultural theorist and focused on influencing racial thinking in the UK. His theory of representation circulates around the two perspectives of; challenging ones original views, and fitting within the 'regeimes' of representation. Therefore, we have somewhat challenged but also fitted with stereotypical views of people in this social group.

Here is an example of what some people may stereotypically think of when they think of teenage boys, or teenagers in general, thinking of them as ruff, chavvy thugs. We are somewhat reinforcing this stereotype as Henry's boyfriend come from an underprivileged chavvy, drug using background, however, this doesn't necessarily class him as a thug, which is something that many people forget.

Here is a screenshot from our final production of Henry praying in a high angle shot, showing him kneeling on the floor. This is done to present his religious beliefs and how he often prays for comfort/ guidance.

We have also presented Christians in our film opening with Henry being one. This is shown through the wide angle shot of him walking into the church and praying in front of the cross and the high angle shot of him praying (whilst kneeling on the floor). Our opening somewhat reinforces common stereotypes about Christians as you would expect them to have very strict beliefs and follow them, as well as praying often. We have presenting Henry praying, therefore reinforcing the idea that they pray often. However, we have challenged the idea that they have strict beliefs, as sex before marriage and sex with another man is something that is not agreed with and extremely frowned upon in his religion, therefore showing him rebelling against his own religion. We have presented his rebellion by showing the scenes of him in church but also by having a sermon as a voice over in these scenes. The non digetic voice over reads a sermon about how the religion is against gay relationships, therefore making it clear Henry is doing wrong and challenging the stereotypes.

We have also presented the social group of women in our final production which you can see from this screenshot. We have presented them as being professional and successful, with our main female character being a doctor. We have dressed her in smart/casual clothes to present how she holds authority over the other characters however haven't dressed her in a stereotypical doctors outfit as our production isn't set in a hospital. 

Here is the outfit of a stereotypical female doctor. 

Our opening presents the social group of women as professional and authoritative, particularly in the workplace. We have only two female characters in our scene, with one being an extra in the waiting room and the other being a doctor. As she is a doctor, this breaks the stereotype of women not being able to have an established profession and often being seen as dumb and inferior to men. We have dressed our doctor in fairly smart/casual clothes. We have done this to show that they have authority over the other characters however as our production isn't set in a hospital, we didn't feel it necessary to dress her in a stereotypical doctors outfit.