Evaluation - Representation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The characters in the narrative of my film opening represent a middle class, white social group, due to them being this class, out of character. Due to them being this class makes them act in this way, as if they were them. I decided that the characters of my opening would be middle class, so the narrative of my film would fit, and make sense. Therefore having actors that are middle class, would help them to represent these social groups.

Due to my opening having both a male and female characters, my product represents both of these genders. The male character is represented as the stereotypical dominant male leader for most of the film. As they get to the cabin in the narrative, the power swaps over to the female character. This is shown through the narrative, but also the technical aspects of the opening. The use of camera work and angles of the camera, connotes that she gets the power in this scene due to her being higher up than him, and the camera looking up at the her. This is also shown when the camera looks down on to the male character, as the reverse shot is shown.

Both of my characters in my opening are middle aged, due to them being this age stereo typically they show maturity. The female character shows maturity when she wants to go back to the car as the cabin is all smashed up, as she thinks it is unsafe. The male character then persuades her to not go back, showing immaturity, which is stereotypical, of the male mid-life crisis, but also the personality of the character.

These representations then link back to the type of audience that would watch the film, as viewers will be able to relate to the characters. When I researched the primary and secondary audiences for my genre of film, in the planning, the typical viewer is both male and female, younger viewers ranging from sixteen to late thirties, and mainly middle class. This is the typical profile of the main audience. The characters in the film are in a similar age group and class, therefore they could relate to the characters in the film.

The uses and gratifications theory tells us why we watch films. This can be applied to why the audience watches the film. Viewers watch films to identify with the characters, which can be role models for them. Viewers also watch films for entertainment, which helps them to escape, and also help them to forget about their issues in real life temporarily. With the combination of the identification and entertainment, viewers can reach escapism, from their real lives, whilst relating to the characters, which represent a more exciting life, that is similar to the audiences.
Linking back to identification, where the viewer relates with the character, due to them being similar, can help the viewer feel like they are in this situation.