Evaluation - Representation of Social Groups

We manipulated the entire sequence in order to connote a specific type of social group in our opening sequence.

Gender: 80% Male & 20% Female

Age: 16-21

Ethnicity: Mostly White, British

Interests: Electronic Music, Graffiti Art, Drugs, Raving,
Academic: None at all OR A-Levels/Uni

In this shot we get a clear view of the Mise-en-Scene specifically chosen to reinforce the representations of our characters. The graffiti on the walls shows the law-breaking element of the social group we were representing in the sequence, as well as drug use through the form on the 'joint' in Jamie’s hands and the drug bags being passed around. Here we are conforming to the stereotype of the modern youth - those who break one law, e.g. graffiti artists, are the ones that commit all other crimes that the youth as a group are targeted for. We decided to give this issue a celebratory theme through the loosely framed long shot, connoting the distance between this type of people and those that are part of the '9to5' social group. We showed the characters to have a sense of freedom in what they choose to do with a sense of rebellion against stereotypical society. However the bland lighting interlinks with their shady body language to connote a secretive group of youths who are paranoid because of their drug intoxication.

  
The editing is fast paced and makes use of jump cuts to represent the effect of drugs on our characters. The fact that it jumps from Jamie taking a pill to being straight in the middle of a rave connotes the extremity of their nights out and how every moment is a blur once it is over. Because we have not put a lot of camera time on Jamie actually taking the pill, it also connotes that taking drugs is no big deal to teenage drug users, the real fun is when the effect kicks in and being in a rave. We decided to represent this issue is an easy going and fun respect to highlight the lack of effort given by authorities to fix the problem. This explains the fast paced and jumpy editing style. This is why we focused more time on the rave footage which subverts to the stereotypical drug user who would eventually become addicted, connoting that drugs are part of everyday life and are no big deal to them. However the effect is that they love drugs, representing the social group as previous part time users that have now become full time addicts.

Here is the one of the only parts of our sequence that bares any aspect of a female being included in the entire 2 minutes in the form of a close up, other than the conversation with the teacher at the beginning. The women is a stage dancer, dressed promiscuously, representing the female social group as sexual object.

The close up emphasizes her sexual appeal - females are conformed in the sense that they are only present in our trailer when dancing to entertain the men. There are no females in the main scenes of the sequence connoting their lack of importance in the entire story. This supports John Burgers ideology that men are spectators of women who are only present for a man’s personal entertainment.

Here is the stereotypical rivalry between the academic social group of teachers, against school students in the form of a two shot, connoting the opposing opinions between the two people. Jamie's presence slightly towers the teacher to connote his lack of respect for the authorities. We gave this representation to connote the idea that the institution's general typical advice to people in Jamie's situation is not good enough to actually make a difference- almost as if the teacher does not understand Jamie's position. Another connotation is that Jamie prioritises his life over others like a stereotypical teenager and therefor does not listen to the teachers. Jamie takes the typical rebellious school boy role in this part of the trailer, connoted through his tie and shirt with a nice hair do. His presence changes to a more confident person who takes the leading role when meeting up with his mates. It connotes how his actions in school do not signify his personality in outside everyday life. Also, the colour of this scene expresses the dark and dreary feel of the school. The subtle hint of blue connotes the feeling of a lack of hope for the relationship between Jamie and his teacher.

This shot is used between the fast paced editing of the rave scenes as a close up. The angle is not straight and the lighting is poor in the background. The bunny rabbit face is almost menacing to the viewer, representing the raving social group as somewhat of an evil group of people who we should have fear in. We decided to give this representation as it creates a realistic view on what most stereo typical '9to5' people would think at an actual rave. However there is also a humorous side connoted to the bunny rabbit mask - a sense of freedom in the appearance of people in the raves. We gave this representation also to provide a polysemic insight into what we believe their thoughts are on stereotypical mainstream worries such as how we look and what people think of us. The rave culture is connoted as care-free and having fun with people similar to themselves.